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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Om Birla attends swearing-in of new B'desh PM, says India stands ready to support BNP govt
New Delhi (PTI): Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday attended the swearing-in ceremony of new Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman in Dhaka, and said India stands ready to support Bangladesh's endeavours to build a democratic, progressive and inclusive nation.
Separately, the speaker called on the new Bangladesh prime minister and conveyed the wishes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He also handed over an invitation from Prime Minister Modi to Rahman to visit India, officials said here.
“Glad to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the new government of Bangladesh led by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman in Dhaka today. India stands ready to support Bangladesh’s endeavours to build a democratic, progressive and inclusive nation,” Birla posted on X.
Bangladesh High Commissioner to India, Riaz Hamidullah, said in a post on X, “Prime Minister Tarique Rahman conveys his greetings to India and PM Narendra Modi to the visiting India Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla at a courtesy meet following the swearing-in of the new government.
“Speaker Birla conveyed wishes and an invitation to India. Both leaders expressed optimism to work together for the well-being of the people of Bangladesh and India, pursuing a people-centric menu of cooperation.”
Birla also met Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu, Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and other leaders on the sidelines of the event.
Led by Rahman, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) swept to power with a two-thirds majority with 49.97 per cent votes and 209 seats in the polls held on February 12, results for which were declared on February 13.
The Jamaat-e-Islami, which was opposed to Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan in 1971, registered its best-ever performance with 31.76 per cent votes and 68 seats.
The National Citizen Party (NCP) secured the third-highest number of seats, six, and 3.05 per cent votes.
Bangladesh had invited Narendra Modi to the ceremony, but the prime minister could not attend the event as he was scheduled to hold talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in Mumbai on Tuesday.
On reaching Dhaka, Birla said the swearing-in of Rahman was an important moment that would strengthen people-to-people relations and shared democratic values between the two neighbours.
“Honoured to be in Dhaka representing India at the swearing-in ceremony of the new government led by Tarique Rahman as the prime minister. It's an important moment that will strengthen people-to-people ties and shared democratic values between our two nations,” Birla said.
Birla was accompanied by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and other officials.
