NEW DELHI: As Bharatiya Janata Party and NDA leaders hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation while crediting him for the Next Gen GST reforms, the opposition on Sunday criticised the speech, claiming that the reforms were inadequate and came too late.After PM Modi’s address to the nation, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge asked PM Modi-led government to “apologise to the people” for imposing GST on their dal, rice, grains, pencils, books, medical treatment, and farmers’ tractors.”After eating nine hundred mice, the cat sets off for Hajj. Your government, instead of adopting the Congress’s simple and efficient GST, imposed a “Gabbar Singh Tax” with nine different slabs, collecting over Rs 55 lakh crore in 8 years,” Kharge said.”Now, by talking about a Rs 2.5 lakh crore “Savings Festival,” you’re offering a mere sticking plaster after inflicting deep wounds on the public! The public will never forget that you imposed GST on their dal, rice, grains, pencils, books, medical treatment, and farmers’ tractors. Your government ought to apologise to the people!” he added.West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee claimed that the Centre is taking undue credit for lowering GST rates and said that the move was initiated by state”Some people are making big claims about GST. I was the first to write a letter requesting its reduction, as people were suffering,” Mamata said. “But all the credit goes to the states; the central government does nothing except give lectures,” she added.Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that his party had long argued that the GST has been a “Growth Suppressing Tax” and had demanded a GST 2.0 since July 2017 itself.”The Prime Minister addressed the nation today to claim sole ownership of the amendments made to the GST regime by the GST Council, a constitutional body,” Jairam said.”The Indian National Congress has long argued that the GST has been a Growth Suppressing Tax. It is plagued with a high number of tax brackets, punitive tax rates for items of mass consumption, large-scale evasion and misclassification, costly compliance burdens, and an inverted duty structure (lower tax on output as compared to inputs). We have been demanding a GST 2.0 since July 2017 itself. This was a key pledge made in our Nyay Patra for the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections,” he added.Aam Aadmi Party attacked PM Modi, saying that he should have said something about increasing the fees charged by companies sponsoring H-1B applicants to $100,000 and imposing tariffs by US President Trump.”It seemed like Prime Minister Modi would say something about increasing the fees charged by companies sponsoring H-1B applicants to $100,000 and imposing tariffs by US President Trump, but the GST news is very old. Prime Minister Modi used to address the nation at 8 PM, but today at 5 PM, perhaps because tonight at 8 PM there is the India vs Pakistan match… It seems like India’s foreign policy is quite bad… Now there is an indifference in people’s minds,” AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj said.Meanwhile, BJP along with its NDA partners hailed the Prime Minister for the new reforms.BJP’s top brass shared clips of PM Modi’s address on their social media accounts. Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said, “First, one nation one tax GST was implemented. Now, the GST budget festival has arrived. Now, the poor can also buy expensive things because they no longer have to pay the price they had to pay before…Prime Minister Modi has called for adopting Swadeshi… The Swadeshi movement was started by the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi… This will lead to a self-reliant and developed India…”Janata Dal United said that PM Modi’s announcement will fill people of the country with great joy ahead of the festival season.”GST reforms underwent a long review process. This was an announcement that will fill the people of the country with great joy ahead of the festival season,” JD(U) spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan Prasad said.This comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the implementation of next-generation Goods and Services Tax (GST) reforms from September 22 will be a “double bonanza” for the “poor, neo-middle class, and middle class”, as the reforms would “significantly ease the cost of living while boosting aspirations of millions”.”From tomorrow, only two tax slabs of 5 per cent and 18 per cent will remain. This means that daily-use items such as food, medicines, soap, toothpaste, and insurance will either be exempt or taxed at just 5 per cent,” PM Modi said in his address to the nation on Sunday evening.According to the Prime Minister, nearly 99 per cent of products earlier taxed at 12 per cent have now been moved into the 5 per cent category. He underlined that this reform would make essential and lifestyle goods — from groceries and medicines to TVs, refrigerators, two-wheelers, cars, and even hotel stays — more affordable for citizens.Highlighting the socio-economic shift over the past decade, he said that in the last 11 years, 25 crore people have overcome poverty to emerge as a vibrant “neo-middle class”.”Now, with GST reforms, the poor, the neo-middle class, and the middle class are receiving a double bonanza. Their dreams — from building a house to owning vehicles and travelling — will become easier to fulfil,” he added. Go to Source
