'No bachat utsav but chapat utsav': Congress claims benefits of GST rate cuts not reaching people
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Sunday cited a media report which claimed that the prices of several products were hiked by big firms before the GST rate reduction and asked what is the point if the benefits of the cuts were not reaching the common people.
Congress general secretary in charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, shared a media report on X which said that the Centre reduced the GST rate on food items from 12 per cent to 5 per cent from September 22, and consumers should have benefited directly from this, but the reality is quite the opposite.
The report claimed that as soon as major companies learned of the tax cut, they increased the prices of their products by up to 10 per cent, providing little relief to the general public.
In his post in Hindi on X, Ramesh said it was not "bachat utsav (savings festival)" but "chapat utsav (fleecing festival)" that had been ushered in.
Instead of GST reform, "event-oriented Prime Minister's promotion" had been done, he claimed.
"If the benefits of GST rate cuts are not directly reaching the general public, then what is the point?" Ramesh said.
Last Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asserted that the GST reforms will accelerate India's growth story, emphasising that it is a big and important step for Aatmanirbhar Bharat and linking a boost to 'swadeshi' products to the country's prosperity.
Addressing the nation, Modi said the reduced prices of items across the board will launch "bachat utsav" for people.
New lower GST rates kicked in from last Monday, resulting in a slashing of prices of as many as 375 items ranging from toothpaste and shampoo to cars and television sets, a move seen as an attempt to boost consumption to cushion an economy facing tariff headwinds.
Tax rates of 5, 12, 18, and 28 per cent have been clubbed into two rates of 5 per cent and 18 per cent, resulting in a reduced price of 99 per cent of daily use items.
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21 hours raid fetch nothing for ED, claims Karnataka Cong MLA’s son
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Congress MLA N A Haris' son Mohammed Haris Nalapad on Tuesday claimed that the 21 hours of search by the ED in his house and other locations did not fetch anything.
The Enforcement Directorate on Monday raided the premises of the two sons of Haris (Mohammed Haris Nalapad and Omar Farook Nalapad), Aqeeb Khan, grandson of ex-Union cabinet minister K Rahman Khan and an alleged crypto hacker named Srikrishna Ramesh alias Sriki in a crypto currency-linked money laundering case.
More than a dozen premises in the city have been covered as part of the action executed under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
"My grandfather is 89-year-old. There is not a single bad mark. My father (N A Haris) is a four-time MLA. There is not a single accusation against him. Their only intention was to target myself and my brother. As simple as that," Mohammed Nalapad, who is a former Karnataka Youth Congress president, told reporters.
According to him, the ED officials carried out raids for 21 hours.
"After 21 hours of search, they took away only two mobile phones from our house. They did not get a single paisa. The ED will testify it," the Congress leader said.
Exuding faith in the law, he said he is ready to fight the case in court.
"Me and my father have opted for politics and we are in public life. You can call me whatever you want but I have not done anything wrong," Mohammed Nalapad said.
Regarding his relationship with Sriki, he said he knew him but had no clue what he was doing.
"I have never said that either me or my brother do not know Sriki. But how will I know what he does in his house? Can his crimes be linked to us," he asked.
The money laundering case stems from some Karnataka Police FIRs and chargesheets filed in a 2017 case of hacking of national and international websites, stealing of bitcoins and sale of these 'stolen' virtual digital assets (VDA) through crypto platforms by the alleged hacker Sriki and his associates.
The Nalapad brothers and Aqeeb Khan are alleged to be the beneficiaries of the proceeds of crime generated through this alleged crypto-linked crime, the ED said.
