Siddaramaiah slams PM Modi over GST reforms, calls him 'deceptive'
Mysuru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for claiming credit for the new GST reforms, which took effect on Monday, calling his actions "deceptive".
Speaking at the inauguration of the Dasara food festival at Maharaja’s College Grounds here, the CM sought to know whether PM Modi, who collected excessive GST for eight years, will return all of that to Indians.
Accusing PM of "deceiving" Indians, he said, "It was Modi who implemented GST, it was Modi who increased GST rates, and now it is Modi who is patting himself on the back."
“We were the ones who opposed when GST was increased to 18 per cent and 28 per cent. The very people who collected it all these years are now taking credit. See how cleverly they are deceiving Indians. You should not fall for this,” he added.
Meanwhile, IT Minister Priyank Kharge criticised the recent GST reforms, terming them “too little and too late”.
“It has taken eight years for Vishwaguru (Modi) to realise that they were doing things wrong. Mr (Rahul) Gandhi had been talking about it, saying it is the Gabbar Singh Tax and now they have woken up to it,” he told reporters in Bengaluru.
According to him, in these eight years, these policies have destroyed so many MSMEs and SMEs, many small shops, leading to unemployment—a reality that the Government of India needs to acknowledge.
The Minister questioned the public celebrations over the GST relaxations.
“I don’t understand why everybody is celebrating over a government doing its job. Why are they thanking Mr Modi? He’s not giving money from his pocket, it is the tax that hard-working citizens of the country have paid to the government and they are merely giving it back,” he said.
Dismissing BJP’s promotion of the reforms, Kharge said: “I don’t see whatever this GST Utsav, Dasara bonus, Diwali bumper—what is this nonsense? The last eight years, what was it then? Who pushed the common man, the poor into the well, and now giving them a ladder and BJP is expecting people to thank them for giving them the ladder now to get them out of the well. Like I said, it is too little, too late.”
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Pak police registers case against unidentified gunmen for opening fire on LeT co-founder
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Lahore (PTI): Pakistan's Punjab Police on Friday registered a case against unidentified gunmen for opening fire on Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) co-founder Amir Hamza, who suffered bullet injuries in the attack in Lahore.
On Thursday, two unidentified gunmen riding on a bike opened fire on the vehicle of the private TV channel 24NewsHD TV, owned by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, on Peco Road in Lahore near the TV channel's office.
In the attack, Hamza suffered bullet injuries.
"The FIR has been registered against unidentified gunmen, but it is sealed forthwith," a senior police officer told PTI.
He said the intelligence agencies have taken over this case from the police, and they are currently investigating the matter.
The channel's religious programme host Justice (retd.) Nazir Ahmed Ghazi and Hamza were in the vehicle when it was attacked. Hamza was shifted to a hospital for treatment.
Punjab police on Friday said that "upon receiving information about the incident, the SSP Operations immediately reached the scene and a high alert was imposed in the area. SSP Operations Tauqeer Naeem also met the affected individuals. Thankfully, all present in the vehicle remained safe during the firing."
It further said senior police officers of the Township and Chung, along with a heavy police contingent, were present at the scene.
"Police collected evidence from the site and initiated an investigation. Efforts to arrest the suspects are underway using CCTV footage and geo-fencing techniques. Search and sweep operations are being conducted at various locations, with scrutiny of suspicious individuals ongoing," police said.
It added that those involved in the incident will be traced and arrested soon.
The police sources said that Hamza has been shifted to his residence in Jauhar Town, Lahore, where police and agency personnel met him.
The leadership of the Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML), a political front of Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed's banned Jamat-ud-Dawah (JuD), including Hafiz Saeed's son Hafiz Talha Saeed, also called on him.
TV host retired Justice Ghazi, who remained unhurt in the attack, remained a legal counsel for Hafiz Saeed, they said.
The PMML has strongly condemned the attack on Hamza and demanded that those involved in the incident be arrested immediately.
Hamza is regarded as LeT's second most important leader after its chief Hafiz Saeed, who has been in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat Jail since 2019 after getting convicted for several years in terror financing cases.
Hamza has been designated as a terrorist by the US. In the past, he served as the head of LeT's "special campaigns" department.
In 2018, Hamza formed a fundraising group for the LeT following a ban on the JuD and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation by the Pakistani government.
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