Amlendu Bhushan Khan/ New Delhi: Stage is set for the launch of a nationwide goods and services tax (GST) at a function in Central Hall of Parliament at midnight tonight. From politician to businessmen reacted in differnt ways.
The event will have attendance ranging from veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan to industry doyen Ratan Tata. The last midnight event in Parliament was held in 1997 on the occasion of golden jubilee of the Independence.
Rahul says implementation of GST as a “tamasha”
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi today dubbed the implementation of GST as a “tamasha”, saying the reform was being rushed through in a “half-baked” manner as a “self-promotional spectacle”.
Gandhi, currently abroad on a holiday, hit out at the government, accusing it of being “insensitive” for rolling out GST without planning, foresight and institutional readiness, as it did during demonetisation.
“A reform that holds great potential is being rushed through in a half-baked way with a self-promotional spectacle #GSTTamasha,” he said on Twitter.
“But like demonetisation, GST is being executed by an incompetent and insensitive government without planning, foresight and institutional readiness,” Gandhi also tweeted.
The Congress leader said India deserves a GST rollout that does not put crores of its ordinary citizens, small businesses and traders through tremendous pain and anxiety.
He claimed that unlike demonetisation, GST was a reform that the Congress had championed and backed from the very beginning.
Gandhi’s tweets come a day after the Congress announced its boycott of the midnight GST launch event by the government at the Central Hall of Parliament tonight.
The Congress is boycotting the event on grounds that a taxation reform could not be equated to midnight celebrations of Indian Independence the Central Hall has seen on August 15, 1947, and later on 25 years of freedom in 1972. It was followed by the celebration of the Golden jubilee of Independence in 1997.
Nitish will not attend midnight launch party
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar will not be attending GST’s midnight launch party. But, he has deputed state minister Vijendra Yadav to attend on behalf of the JDU.
Nitish Kumar has maintained that all political parties should support the GST and participate in the launch function as it was a great tax reform which would benefit every state including Bihar.
However, Nitish’s alliance partner Rashtirya Janata Dal (RJD) has decided to boycott the function along with the principal Opposition party Congress.
GST a good idea with bad implementation: AAP
The Aam Aadmi Party today termed the GST a ‘good idea’ with bad implementation, saying the high tax levies under the new regime will encourage tax evasion, increasing the size of grey market.
Hours before the Goods and Services Tax rollout, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said: “Traders are scared, the common man is scared and you (the central government) want to celebrate”.
He said he did not like the government’s celebrating the launch of the GST, which takes effect from midnight tonight.
He refuted claims about the GST leading to economic independence, saying freedom was a different concept while this was merely a transition from one tax system to another.
Sisodia said if reports about GST software not being tested were true its roll out needs to be deferred else businesses as well as the government will have to face serious consequences.
“You can’t marry dates, you have to marry better implementation,” Sisodia said at the Aaj Tak GST conclave here, adding that “GST is a good idea with bad implementation”.
He termed as “unfortunate” the GST Council’s decision to keep alcohol and real estate out of the ambit of new the indirect tax regime which will subsume a dozen of state and central government levies to unify India as a single market.
Sisodia said the 28 per cent levy under the new regime will not increase the tax collected by the government but will only add to price rise and encourage tax evasion.
Traders protest GST, stop train; wholesale market shut down
In Kanpur, Hours before the roll out of GST, traders in the business hub of Uttar Pradesh today squatted on rail tracks and stopped the Kanpur-Pratapgarh passenger train in a protest against the new tax regime.
The traders led by ‘Akhil Bhartiya Udyog Vyapar Mandal’ leader Gyanendra Misra protested at the Lucknow railway crossing here around 9.47 AM and stopped the local train.
It was only when the GRP personnel rushed to the spot and removed the protesters from the tracks that the train could resume its journey, Railway sources said, adding there was, however, no disturbance by the protesters at the main station.
The wholesale and retail markets here remained closed with the trade organisations taking out processions in the market areas throughout the city against the enforcement of Goods and Services Tax (GST).
The bandh call was given by Uttar Pradesh Udyog Vyapar Pratinidhi Mandal, which also got the support of around 50 trade organisations.
The traders alleged the bandh caused a loss of over Rs 2,000 crore.
In Kolkata
Most of the shops and retail establishments remained closed in Kolkata on Friday following a day’s strike called by the Bhartiya Udyog Vyapar Mandal (BUVM) against the procedures and provisions of the GST. Asia’s biggest wholesale market, kept their shutters down, while the usual buzz was missing in the iconic New Market as retailers observed the trade strike. “In a bid to protest against the procedures and provisions of the GST which will be effective from July 1, we are observing a one-day strike on Friday,” BUVM’s patron and Chairman of the Federation of West Bengal Trade Associations Mahesh Singhania said.
In Rajasthan
A bandh call given by various trade unions against certain provisions in the GST evoked a mixed response in Rajasthan on Friday, Most of the traders participated in the strike. Trader association spokesperson Arun Agrawal said the traders were against the “excessive tax slabs” and “complex processes” under the GST regime.
