New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday posed a volley of questions to the Centre over the hike in Goods and Services Tax (GST) on essential food items and termed the government step as “cruel”.
Question the timing of the government move, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said: “It is cruel to raise tax rates when CPI inflation is over 7 percent, WPI inflation is over 15 percent, unemployment is high, the rupee is depreciating, the current account deficit is widening and inflation is expected to rise worldwide.
“Why are small businesses, shopkeepers, and consumers — all stakeholders — complaining about the revised GST rates? Assume there are some input taxes in pre-packaged goods, was there a demand from producers and sellers to impose GST on pre-packaged and labeled goods? Not to our knowledge,” he said, attacking Finance Minister Nirlmala Sitharaman.
On Tuesday, former Congress President Rahul Gandhi accused the Modi government of unleashing “atrocities” on the common people.
Earlier this month, Congress had called the new tax regime “flawed and unstable” and asked the Centre to scrap it.
