The Communist Party of India (Marxist) will organise Statewide demonstrations in front of Union Government offices on July 29 to condemn the 5% GST on essential commodities including rice, said K. Balakrishnan, State Secretary of the party.
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Speaking after the conclusion of the two-day State Committee meeting of the CPM on Thursday, Mr. Balakrishnan said the GST levy on rice had topped the Narendra Modi’s government’s consistent assault on common people.
“The claims of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman that the hike came about after consultations are false. The Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan, has written to Ms.Sitharaman asking for its rollback. The Opposition’s attempts to have a discussion in the Parliament on the GST Council’s decision is scuttled by the government refusing to subject the Council to debate in the Parliament, turning it into an extra-constitutional body, said Mr.Balakrishnan.
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On Mekadatu, he said the Union BJP government’s outright support to Karnataka is an attempt to gain points ahead of the elections in the State.The Cauvery Water Management Authority’s bid to discuss Mekadatu even in the face of objections by Tamil Nadu showed the underhand methods of the Union Government to support Karnataka. The Tamil Nadu government, which is proposing a survey to study the possibilities for tapping runoff water from Cauvery in Hogenakkal to fill up lakes, should speed up the process, Mr.Balakrishnan said.
A week-long door-to-door campaign will be launched by the party “to explain the Union government’s systemic attack on the people, its crony capitalism, Hindutva led attacks on free speech and journalists and the economic policies hurting the people among others”, he said.
The State Committee also condemned the move to hike power tariffs in the State.