Karnataka will lose revenue but welcomes GST reforms: CM Siddaramaiah
Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said that Karnataka is likely to lose between Rs 15,000 crore and Rs 20,000 crore annually due to the recent reforms in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) system. However, he added that the state government supports the decision in the larger interest of the people.
In a statement issued on Friday, Siddaramaiah welcomed the GST Council’s move to simplify the system, saying it would reduce the burden on taxpayers and traders while cutting down on procedural hurdles. At the same time, he demanded that the Union Government release Karnataka’s rightful share from the GST compensation cess, which is still being collected.
“This is not some new invention of the Narendra Modi government. When the flawed GST was hurriedly introduced by the NDA in 2017, opposition leaders including Rahul Gandhi had already called for essential corrections,” Siddaramaiah said.
He recalled how the Congress had repeatedly warned that the so-called “Gabbar Singh Tax” would ruin small traders by imposing heavy compliance costs and pushing them into financial hardship. “For the last eight years, we kept raising this issue, but the Prime Minister chose to ignore it,” he remarked.
The Chief Minister expressed concern that the GST system leaves states with little power. While the Centre holds one-third of the voting rights, the states together have two-thirds. Any reform requires a three-fourths majority, which gives the Union Government the power to block changes despite opposition from all states, he explained.
According to him, the Modi government has been using this authority to stall reforms for the last eight years. “The Centre’s support for the current reforms is not because of concern for the people, but because of mounting pressure from the states,” Siddaramaiah said.
He further added that if the reforms had been implemented earlier, citizens would not have suffered under the burden of a complicated tax regime. “It is now the responsibility of the Union Government and the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) to ensure that the benefits of these reforms actually reach the people,” he stated.
Siddaramaiah also urged the Centre to prevent traders and companies from misusing the new system for excess profits. He said the state government remains committed to strengthening people’s purchasing power, expanding the tax-paying base, and driving inclusive economic growth so that prosperity is shared by all.
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West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee moves SC against SIR
New Delhi (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in the state, sources said on Sunday.
The petition names the Election Commission (EC) and the chief electoral officer of West Bengal as respondents. It was filed before the apex court on January 28, the sources said.
Banerjee arrived in Delhi on Sunday. She is scheduled to meet Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar at 4 pm on Monday to discuss the ongoing SIR exercise in West Bengal. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo would be accompanied by a delegation of party leaders.
She is also likely to meet party MPs in the Parliament House on Monday.
Talking to reporters at the Kolkata airport before leaving for the national capital, Banerjee claimed that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre is resorting to the SIR exercise because it is certain of its imminent defeat in the West Bengal Assembly polls, due in a few months, and said the saffron party should contest the election politically and democratically.
The West Bengal chief minister has written several letters to the CEC, raising concerns over the conduct of the exercise.
In her most recent letter to the CEC on January 31, she alleged that the methodology and approach of the exercise went beyond the provisions of the Representation of the People Act and the relevant rules, causing "immense inconvenience and agony" to citizens.
Earlier, TMC leaders, including Rajya Sabha MPs Derek O'Brien and Dola Sen, had moved the apex court, challenging certain aspects of how the SIR is being carried out in West Bengal.
