Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh on Monday criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi for opposing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) during his tenure as Gujarat Chief Minister, while highlighting that the recent GST reforms remain limited in scope.
“From 2006-2014, for eight years, only one CM opposed the GST, and that CM became the Prime Minister in 2014 and took a U-turn and emerged as a messiah of GST in 2017,” Ramesh said, referring to Modi.
Ramesh argued that the recent GST changes fail to address procedural complexities for the MSME sector and noted that state governments’ demands for a five-year compensation package remain unaddressed. He also claimed that Congress had repeatedly demanded GST reforms over eight years, which the government ignored until external pressures, like US tariffs, forced action.
“GST was implemented for the first time in July 2017. That is when Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party called it the Gabbar Singh Tax. It is neither good nor simple,” Ramesh said, adding that the initial proposal was presented by former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram in 2006 and introduced as a bill in 2010.
While Ramesh criticized the timing and scope of the reforms, Union Home Minister Amit Shah lauded them as “historic,” stating that GST rate cuts on over 390 products will increase savings for citizens. Shah described the reforms as the government’s “gift of Next Gen GST” on the occasion of Navratri, benefiting mothers, sisters, farmers, traders, and small businesses.
Prime Minister Modi had also announced the nationwide implementation of next-generation GST reforms from September 22, calling it a key step towards the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan and launching a countrywide “GST Bachat Utsav” to benefit the poor, middle class, and entrepreneurs.
