Hubballi (Karnataka) [India], September 6 : BJP MLA Mahesh Tenginkai on Saturday criticised the Congress party over its response to the recent GST reforms, calling it a "drama company" and crediting the Modi government for implementing key economic measures.
Speaking to ANI, Mahesh Tenginkai said, "Whenever the central government makes any major reform, the Congress party claims that they had already been informed about it and that everything occurred accordingly. The Congress party has fully turned into a drama company."
"Whatever step Nirmala Sitharaman has taken, PM Modi had already announced it from Red Fort on 15 August. Now, whatever measures should have been taken to strengthen the economic policy, we have implemented, and this is entirely the responsibility of the BJP. Congress has nothing to do with it," he added.
A day earlier, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramiah welcomed the Goods and Services Tax (GST) council's decision on the rationalisation of the rates, stating that it was an important step to reduce both monetary and compliance burden on people and businesses.
In a post on social media X, the Chief Minister hitting out at the Centre noted that the decision on the reforms was not a "new wisdom," but a long-delayed acceptance of what the Opposition had been demanding since 2016-2017, further stating that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government was already warned of the crushing effects of the "Gabbar Singh Tax," on the business and ordinary families.
"We welcome the decision of the GST Council to rationalise GST rates, an important step to reduce both the monetary and compliance burden on people and businesses.
"This decision is not new wisdom but a long-delayed acceptance of what Shri Rahul Gandhi, Opposition leaders, and opposition-ruled states have demanded since 2016-2017, when the Modi Government hurriedly rolled out a faulty GST. From the very beginning, we had warned that this "Gabbar Singh Tax" would crush small businesses, increase compliance costs, and burden ordinary families. Sadly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chose to ignore these warnings for eight long years," the post read.
Further in his post, the CM alleged that the Modi government had blocked the reforms that GST could have brought, further stating that the current responsibility of the Union Government and the Central Board was to ensure the benefits of GST rationalisation would reach the consumer.
"To explain clearly: the GST system gives the Union Government one-third of the total voting power, while all states together share the remaining two-thirds. For any reform, a three-fourths majority is needed. This means that even if all states agree, a stubborn Central Government can block reforms. That is exactly what Mr. Modi's government did. Today's course correction proves that our stand was right all along. The people of India could have been spared years of hardship had the Union Government listened earlier.