On a day the GST Council slashed the GST rates on over 150 items, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Friday said his party will not allow imposition of the "Gabbar Singh Tax" and asked the Centre to do some course correction "shedding arrogance".
Taking to Twitter, Rahul also said that the Government cannot break the back of small and medium size enterprises in the country, crush the informal sector and destroy millions of jobs. "We will not allow the BJP to impose a Gabbar Singh Tax on India. They cannot break the back of the small and medium businesses, crush the informal sector and destroy millions of jobs. #GSTCouncilMeet," the Gandhi scion tweeted.
He suggested the Government to give the country a "genuine simple tax". The Government, he said, should not "waste time" of the country by allegedly engaging in lip service. "... Acknowledge your incompetence, shed away your arrogance and listen to the people of India," he said on the micro-blogging site.
later at the AICC Press briefing, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi sought to find "flaws" in the GST, saying it cannot be a "one nation, one tax" if 40 per cent to 45 per cent of the goods or services are kept out of its ambit.
He questioned the timing of the GST Council meeting, which he said, took place ahead of the Gujarat Assembly polls (scheduled to be held on December 9 and December 14). Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Government, Singhvi said that the Centre has been going about implementing the GST "without thinking first".
"The Prime Minister and his Government first shoot, then they aim and then think, be it on the issues of demonetisation or GST. And that is exactly what is happening in the case of GST," he added.
He alleged the "noble conception" of GST has been distorted. He accused the Government of not addressing the real concerns relating to the tax regime because of its "arrogance and rhetoric". "The anomalies need proper application of mind (to be solved) and not arrogance," he said.