BENGALURU: Welcoming the decision of the GST Council to rationalise GST rates, and terming it as an important step towards reducing both the monetary and compliance burdens on people and businesses, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday, however, said, “This decision is not new wisdom, but a long-delayed acceptance of what 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.”
He said, “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 Centre can block reforms. That is exactly what PM 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.”
He added, “Now, the responsibility is on the Union Government and the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) to ensure that the benefits of GST rationalisation actually reach the end consumer. The reduction in rates must lower prices for the people, not increase profit margins for big corporates. If the benefits fail to reach the common man, the blame will rest squarely on the Union Government.”
He said, “Karnataka alone may lose Rs 15,000-20,000 crore in revenue due to this decision. Yet, keeping the welfare of our people above everything else, we welcome it. But we also strongly urge the Centre to devolve the GST compensation cess, still being collected on certain sin goods, back to the states.”
‘State govt must ensure GST reforms reach people’
Bengaluru: Rajya Sabha member and BJP leader Leher Singh said the Congress government in Karnataka should ensure that the GST reforms initiated by PM Narendra Modi reach the people. Singh said the government should not cleverly bring in additional levies at the state-level, like they have done with petrol and diesel to create a distortion in benefits.
“The state government seems to be already making a case for additional levies by saying that GST reforms will lead to loss of revenue for the state. The GST reforms, which are meant to benefit each citizen and consumer, should not be diluted in any way,” he added.
Further, Singh said the state government, which always brings up the issue of revenue loss and cooperative federalism, does not speak about how the burden of its guarantees has sunk the state’s finances.
“Now that GST has been reformed, the state government should also consider reforming the guarantees. The Siddaramaiah government should stop fooling people by pretending to be generous in one hand, but robbing with the other,” he added.