Modi govt converted ease of doing business to unease in doing business: Cong
New Delhi: The Congress on Sunday claimed that the Modi government's “retrograde policies” have broken the confidence of investors in India and converted the ease of doing business to “unease in doing business”.
Ahead of the Union Budget, the opposition party said that to fix this, the upcoming budget must eliminate “raid raj and tax terrorism”.
It also called on the government to take action to protect Indian manufacturing jobs and take decisive action to shore up wages and purchasing power.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the Modi government has long proclaimed its desire to improve the "ease of doing business" in India but yet in the past decade "we have only seen an easing of private investment which has fallen to record lows and the easing out of businesspersons who have departed India in large numbers for foreign shores".
"A byzantine, punitive, and arbitrary tax regime covering both GST and income tax - which amounts to sheer Tax Terrorism -is now the greatest threat to India's prosperity and has contributed to an 'unease of doing business'," he said in a statement.
The biggest component of investment - private domestic investment has been weak since 2014, Ramesh said, adding that it was solidly in the 25-30 per cent of GDP range during Manmohan Singh's tenure as PM.
"In the last ten years, it has collapsed to the 20-25 per cent of GDP range. This sluggish investment has been accompanied by a mass exodus of high-net-worth individuals. More than 17.5 lakh Indians have acquired the citizenship of another country over the past decade," he said.
An estimated 21,300 dollar millionaires left India between 2022 and 2025, he claimed.
"All this is happening for three reasons. Firstly, a complicated GST. According to former Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian, the GST which was proclaimed by the PM to be a Good and Simple Tax has up to a 100 different tax rates, including cesses," he said.
The multiplicity of rates and confusion has facilitated alarming GST evasion of Rs 2.01 lakh crore, almost double the Rs 1.01 lakh crore reported in FY23, he said.
Ramesh claimed that 18,000 fraudulent entities have been uncovered with many more likely undetected.
"Secondly, despite claims to the contrary, Chinese imports into India continue unabated with a record trade deficit of $85 billion in 2023-24.This has damaged Indian manufacturing, especially in labour intensive sectors," Ramesh said.
Thirdly, weak consumption and stagnant wages have reduced India's consumption growth despite the free availability of personal debt, he said.
"According to Ministry of Agriculture data, real wages for agricultural labour grew 6.8 per cent per year under the UPA, and declined 1.3 per cent per year under the Modi government," he said.
Citing the Periodic Labour Force Survey data, he said it shows that average real earnings stagnated between 2017 and 2022 across all workers -- salaried, casual and self-employed.
"These retrograde policies have broken the confidence of investors in India. To fix this, the budget must eliminate raid raj and Tax Terrorism, take action to protect Indian manufacturing jobs and take decisive action to shore up wages and purchasing power, which in turn will incentivise Indian business to invest. Nothing less will do," Ramesh asserted.
Sharing his statement on X, Ramesh said, "The 2025/26 Union Budget will be presented thirteen days from today. Here is our statement on how the Modi Government has converted the ease of doing business to unease in doing business - thereby depressing private investment sentiment. Radical action is necessary to fix the damage."
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Marxism will remain relevant despite Left electoral's losses, says general secretary M A Baby
New Delhi (PTI): CPI(M) General Secretary M A Baby on Thursday asserted that the Left movement would remain relevant despite not being in power in any state, saying the ideology would continue to endure as long as social and economic inequalities persist.
Hitting back at BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar over his reported remarks that Marxism had become irrelevant, Baby, in an interview with PTI Videos, said, "So long as there is division in society, so long as there is exploitation of the majority of workers, peasants and ordinary masses by a handful of billionaires, Marxism will remain relevant."
"That perhaps Mr Rajeev Chandrasekhar may not be able to understand, but this is the fact of the matter," he said.
Baby acknowledged that the CPI(M)-led Left was currently without an elected government in any state, but maintained that electoral setbacks would not diminish the movement's role.
"We may not have an elected government in any state. There were occasions when we didn't have a government. But the red flag and the commitment to organise and struggle for the rights of the dispossessed, marginalised and exploited will always be upheld by CPI(M) and the Left movement," he said.
He said the Left continued to enjoy support among workers, peasants, agricultural labourers, youth, students and women, and argued that the movement remained necessary because "oppression and assault" continued in society.
"So long as such problems exist in society, the red flag and the working class movement will continue to work among the masses," the Left leader said.
Exuding confidence on the Left's revival, Baby said the party would reflect on the reasons behind its electoral loss.
"We may be rejected in one election, but we will stage our comeback by understanding what went wrong with us," he said, adding, "We will listen to people and we will come back with higher strength."
Baby also criticised the Congress over reported factional tensions in Kerala after the Congress-led United Democratic Front's victory in the state.
"The way they are behaving is being watched by the people of Kerala," he said, referring to infighting within the Congress.
"Those who have given a massive majority to Congress and UDF would be watching all this," he added, while urging party leaders to "settle the problem in an amicable, democratic manner".
Referring to West Bengal, Baby alleged that violence had escalated following the BJP's victory in the state assembly polls.
"It is quite unfortunate that the moment BJP snatched a massive victory in West Bengal, violence has also started on a big scale," he said.
He also accused the Trinamool Congress of being "notorious for violent activities" and alleged that the "RSS-controlled BJP" had "unleashed violence in many places" after the election results.
"This is not good for Bengal, not good for the country. We wish and hope that normalcy would be restored as soon as possible," he said.
Baby said the CPI(M) and the Left in West Bengal would continue efforts to "pacify people" and avoid violence and confrontation.
Asked about former Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan not reacting publicly to the election results, Baby said Vijayan would respond "at an appropriate time".
