GST a stunt, note-ban a disaster, says Mamata

Kolkata: Calling the Centre's demonetisation of high-value currency notes as the "biggest disaster", Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has yet again demanded a thorough investigation into the move. "As I said earlier, demonetisation is the biggest disaster. It has completely ruined the country's economy. Also, GST is a great stunt. Why did the government launch it in a hurry without making proper plans? The common people and all traders are the worst sufferers. A thorough investigation is needed," Banerjee tweeted on Thursday.

At a time when the Centre has decided to celebrate the first anniversary of demonetisation on November 8, Mamata Banerjee's tweet has once again demolished the tall claims of the Centre that the move has come as a boon to the country.

It may be recalled that Banerjee was the first to criticise the banning of high-value notes which was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the night of November 8, 2016. Within half an hour of the announcement, Banerjee in an interview to a vernacular television channel said that it would affect the country's economy badly and common people would be the worst hit. Over the next couple of months, thousands of people engaged with different trades lost their jobs. Within one year, most economists, both from the country and abroad, stated that demonetisation has severely affected the country's economic growth.

Banerjee has said over and again that hurriedly implemented GST will do more harm than good to the nation. Initially, she had supported GST but began to criticise it because of lack of preparedness by the Centre before implementing it. "We had pointed out to the Centre that without proper infrastructure, it will be foolish to implement GST. It has put business community in dire trouble," Banerjee was heard saying in most of her speeches delivered in different forums. She has termed both note ban and GST as the "biggest scams" of recent times.