Govt was 'ill-prepared' to implement GST: Cong
New Delhi, Dec 25: Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal Tuesday alleged that the slashing of GST rates on a host of items was a "patchwork" for the "ill-prepared" introduction of the tax.
He demanded that petrol and electricity be also brought under the ambit of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
The GST council at its 31st meeting on Wednesday slashed tax rates for 23 commonly-used items. The rates have been reduced from 18 per cent to 12 and 5 per cent respectively.
"Reducing the taxes is just a patchwork for the ill-prepared introduction of GST as there was no conceptual clarity in the first place. This meeting was just a patchwork.
"India is the 161st country to introduce a GST-like arrangement, our concern is if we had to copy, it should have been done with clear concepts," Congress leader Badal told reporters here.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi has always called the GST a "Gabbar Singh Tax". The GST was hastily implemented without any preparation, he said.
"The concepts were not clear, stakeholders were not consulted and there was no technological preparedness. We have been demanding that filing of GST returns be simplified, and petroleum and electricity be brought under its ambit," the Punjab finance minister said.
"If GST is about having 'one nation, one tax', such a big sector of the economy cannot be exempted," he said.
Badal said the BJP slashed the GST rates "out of panic" and that if elected to power, the Congress will implement a new simplified version of the GST, as its current version is "flawed".
He also said that decisions should be taken for the long-term good of the country and not out of political considerations.
While the government has claimed that the fresh rate rationalisation is an attempt to streamline GST and make it more people-friendly, the Congress and other opposition parties have objected to rate cut citing revenue consideration.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Kolkata Port: Decline in number of voters during SIR brings in uncertainty in TMC bastion
Kolkata (PTI): A sharp decline in the number of voters following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has injected an element of uncertainty into the Kolkata Port Assembly constituency, considered a safe seat for the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC).
The electorate in the south Kolkata constituency has dropped from 2.36 lakh in the 2021 Assembly polls to around 1.75 lakh, a fall of nearly 26 per cent, prompting political parties to closely assess its potential impact on the April 29 polling.
The TMC re-nominated senior minister and Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim, who has held the seat for two consecutive terms, while the BJP fielded Rakesh Singh. The Congress nominated Aquib Gulzar, and the CPI(M) put up Faiyaz Ahmad Khan, making it a four-cornered contest.
Kolkata Port, part of the Kolkata Dakshin parliamentary constituency, comprises dock areas, old business districts and densely populated neighbourhoods. Muslim voters form a significant segment of the electorate, alongside traders, transport workers and working-class Hindu families.
The reduction in voter numbers has prompted party workers across formations to scrutinise the revised rolls booth-wise to identify deletions and assess whether specific localities have been affected.
Singh’s candidature has added a twist to the contest. He had earlier contested against Hakim as a Congress candidate but is now in the fray on a BJP ticket.
Hakim won the seat in 2016 by 26,548 votes, defeating Singh, and increased his margin significantly to 68,554 votes in 2021, polling over one lakh votes.
While the TMC has expressed confidence in retaining the seat, opposition parties have raised concerns over the voter list revision, alleging that names of genuine voters have been removed.
“People here know who has stood by them. Elections are decided by trust,” Hakim told PTI during a campaign event.
Singh claimed several residents had complained about missing names in the rolls, stressing the need for transparency. The CPI(M) nominee also said voters in several areas had raised similar concerns.
The constituency has remained a difficult terrain for the opposition in recent elections.
Civic issues such as sanitation, traffic congestion and declining business activity in traditional markets also feature in the campaign in the constituency, though the revised voter list has emerged as a key talking point.
Polling in the constituency will be held in the second phase on April 29, with counting scheduled for May 4.
