Congress on Friday virtually disapproved of the Planning Commission affidavit on Below Poverty Line (BPL) cap saying it does raise a question in the minds of those rooted in ground realities.
The party's reaction, which comes after Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh questioned the current methodology in a written communication to Montek Singh Ahluwalia, reflects the unease in Congress over the affidavit, which has invited sharp criticism from Opposition BJP and Left as well as UPA ally NCP.
"A question does arise in the mind of everybody, whoever is rooted to the ground realities ... I accept that seeing these statistics, it does raise a question mark," party spokesperson Manish Tewari told reporters.
Tewari said that Ramesh has already raised certain questions and it should now be left to them to decide the matter as Planning Commission and Rural Development Ministry are working together on the BPL issue.
According to an affidavit of the plan panel in the Supreme Court on Wednesday, only those individuals whose consumption was less than Rs32 per day in urban areas and Rs26 in rural areas will be treated as poor.
In a stinging criticism of the Planning Commission over the move, key UPA ally NCP had said: "Only meeting, lunch and rest" seems to be the job of the Planning Commission.
NCP General Secretary D. P. Tripathi had also said that the affidavit showed ‘total lack of sensitivity towards the poor.’
In his letter to Ahluwalia, Ramesh also has said relying on plan panel's estimate to arrive at cut offs will not resolve the problem.