Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Tuesday declared that the Congress-led UPA would not remain in power after the Lok Sabha polls next year.
“The present dispensation at Centre will go after the elections and everything will change. We will then throw away the Goods and Services Tax (GST),” she told the Assembly, amid thumping of desk by treasury benches. Lashing out at the Centre for bringing in a Bill to enact GST, which she said would take away the revenue generated by the State government through commercial taxes.
“Commercial tax is the only source of revenue to a state government. It does not have any other sources of revenue. The Goods and Services Tax seeks to deprive the State government of this revenue also,” she said, responding to Panruti S. Ramachandran, deputy leader of the Opposition.
Ms. Jayalalithaa said her government had been consistent in its objection to the GST, whenever the Centre talked about introducing the Bill.
“Even in the recent meeting of Finance Ministers at Delhi, our Minister for Commercial Taxes attended and opposed the Centre’s move. We are not just opposing some selective provisions of the bill. But opposing the Bill as a whole,” she said.
Ms. Jayalalithaa said if the Centre went ahead with its plan and enacted the law, its impact would not last long. “We will throw it away after the elections,” she said.
