Of late, Rahul Gandhi and in fact the entire opposition has been trying to corner the Modi government on the issue of GST. While the implementation of GST has been a landmark tax reform in the nation’s history as the effective rate of taxation on several commodities and services has come down, the opposition leaders, for reasons best known to them, have been trying to claim that GST has added to the burden of the ordinary citizen of the country.
In what yet again exposes the opportunistic brand of politics that the Congress represents, it seems that the party president Rahul Gandhi and the state party leadership in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh have taken contradictory stands on the issue of GST. The Congress president has been quite vocal with his bizarre comments about GST. He has time and again demanded that in order to relieve the consumers, petrol and diesel should be brought within the ambit of GST. He has also been insisting consistently that there should be a single rate of taxation for all commodities which should not be more than 18%. The fact that he suggested a single rate for all commodities, whether luxuries or essential commodities, shows that he has negligible knowledge on this subject.
What is particularly disturbing is the fact that the leaders from Congress ruled states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh have opposed a major GST rate cut.
They have outrightly opposed the pruning of the 28% slab at the Council meeting. They have reportedly told the Council that the state leadership sees the rate cut as a political move. It is clear that even though Rahul Gandhi talks about reducing tax burden, his men in the states are not really serious about reducing the rates. Therefore, the hypocrisy of the Congress is now out in the open.
