Congress president Rahul Gandhi took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday after he stated that the Centre was trying to bring 99 per cent of items under or in the 18 per cent slab of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
“The Congress has finally jolted Narendraji from his deep slumber on Gabbar Singh Tax. Though still drowsy, he now wants to implement what he had earlier called the Congress Party’s ‘Grand Stupid Thought.’ Better late then never Narendraji!,” Mr. Gandhi said on Twitter.
The term Gabbar Singh Tax was coined by the Congress president just before the Gujarat elections last year.
Mr. Modi had made the announcement on GST at an event in Mumbai on Tuesday. The Congress that has been advocating a revenue neutral rate of 18 per cent for the majority of the goods and services called it “belated wisdom.” Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, in a series of tweets, had compared the Prime Minister’s statement to “trying to unscramble an egg after having scrambled it.”
“The government says 99% of goods will be at 18 per cent GST. Belated wisdom. We should have started with 18 per cent as the standard rate. Having scrambled the egg needlessly when GST was introduced, Government is trying to unscramble it! Typical of NDA,” Mr. Chidambaram said.
“BJP/NDA governance mantra is ‘Leap before you look.’ Which is the reason for the damage caused by GST to businesses, especially MSMEs,” he said
