Arun Jaitley defended the tax reform while presenting a detailed economic roadmap
Highlights
- Those used to 2G scam will have objection to legit tax programme: Jaitley
- Rahul Gandhi had expanded GST into 'Gabbar Singh Tax'
- Arun Jaitley defended GST while presenting a detailed economic roadmap
In the ongoing back-and-forth over GST or Goods and Services Tax, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today delivered a stinging retort to
Rahul Gandhi's "Gabbar Singh Tax" dig.
"Those who are used to the 2G scam and the coal scam will naturally have objections to a legitimate tax programme," Mr Jaitley said at a press meet where several economic decisions were announced.
Rahul Gandhi, while campaigning in Gujarat yesterday, had expanded GST into "Gabbar Singh Tax" after one of India's biggest fictional villains from the blockbuster Sholay.
Rahul Gandhi said the GST had hit lakhs of small traders.
Today, the Congress vice president took his "Gabbar Singh" analogy a little further and called it a villain that "covets people's earnings".
"Congress GST = Genuine Simple Tax. Modi ji's GST = Gabbar Singh Tax = yeh kamaai mujhe de de (hand over your income)," Mr Gandhi posted on Twitter.
Mr Jaitley and top Finance Ministry officials again defended the tax reform while presenting a detailed economic roadmap.
"Of the many reforms, the biggest of them all has been the GST. Very soon you will see the major push that the GST reform will give to India's growth story," said Subhash Chandra Garg, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs.
The presentation comes as critics and political rivals have attacked the BJP-led government for what they call poor handling of key reforms like last year's demonetisation and GST.