Rahul: Half-baked GST launch a self-promotional spectacle
30 Jun 2017 6:33 PM GMT
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Friday dubbed the GST implementation as a "tamasha" (gimmick) and said the tax reform measure was being rushed through in a "half-baked" manner as a "self-promotional spectacle". Gandhi, who is currently abroad on a holiday, hit out at the government, accusing it of being "insensitive".
He said the government was rolling out the Goods and Services Tax (GST) without planning, foresight and institutional readiness, as it did during demonetisation.
"A reform that holds great potential is being rushed through in a half-baked way with a self-promotional spectacle #GSTTamasha (sic)," he said on Twitter.
The Congress leader said India deserved a GST roll-out that did not put crores of its ordinary citizens, small businesses and traders through tremendous pain and anxiety.
"Unlike demonetisation, GST is a reform that @INCIndia has championed & backed from the beginning...But like demonetisation, GST is being executed by an incompetent & insensitive Govt w/o planning foresight &institutional readiness #GSTTamasha (sic)," he said in a series of tweets.
Chief Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said the BJP government had imposed the "highest ever GST rate in the world", unlike the erstwhile UPA dispensation which had proposed putting a cap of 18 percent on tax.
He said the BJP government's "cumbersome GST with 5-tier tax structure" would affect the livelihood of shopkeepers, traders and small businessmen.
"Spirit of GST bill of Congress was -'Single, Simple, Transparent, Uncomplicated Tax & Reducing Inflation'. Present GST is just the opposite...'Complicated & Compliance Cost Burden' defines BJP's GST," he said in a series of tweets.
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