Ahead of the Delhi Assembly polls, AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal launched an attack on the BJP-led Central government on Tuesday for waiving loans of its “billionaire friends” and demanded a halt to the practice, adding that such a move could transform the country’s economic landscape. Instead, he has urged the government to redirect these resources toward easing the financial burden on common citizens, farmers and middle-class families.
In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, AAP chief highlights a stark disparity in the allocation of public funds, cornering the BJP led Central government of prioritising the financial interests of a select few billionaires over the needs of ordinary taxpayers.
Showing a letter at a press conference, Kejriwal said, “Today I wrote a letter to the prime minister on a very important issue. In the letter, I have told the prime minister that the BJP-led Central government is spending money from the government treasury on the country’s billionaires. Whichever billionaire friend they want to be kind to, they give him money from the government and waive off that loan in two or three years. In the last five years, the central government has waived loans of 400-500 such billionaires worth `10 lakh crore.”
Presenting an alternative vision, the AAP chief outlined how stopping these corporate loan waivers could transform the country's economic landscape. He proposed halving income tax and GST rates, doubling the taxable income limit, and abolishing GST on essential food items—steps that would directly benefit millions of households.
"Common people are paying half their salaries in taxes, while the loans of the rich are being waived. Why doesn't the Central government waive home loans, car loans, or other financial burdens of ordinary citizens?" Kejriwal asked.
Having earlier served as a joint commissioner in the Income Tax Department, Kejriwal went to closely examine the tax burden on the common man. He said, “A middle-class individual who earns `12 lakh annually is burdened with so many taxes imposed by the central government. They pay income tax, GST, service tax, property tax, education cess, capital gains tax, road tax, and more. When all these taxes are combined, a person earning `12 lakh ends up paying at least `6 lakh in taxes—half of their income—to the government. And what do they get in return? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”