Hyderabad: On Tuesday, Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar criticized the BJP for celebrating the Goods and Services Tax (GST) reforms through an event called ‘GST Bachat Utsav’. During a media interaction at Gandhi Bhavan, he accused the BJP government of enforcing an “irrational GST” system over the past eight years, arguing that such festivities won’t ease the public’s hardships.
The Minister claimed that GST has been used as a tool to “exploit the nation’s citizens.” He argued that the government’s practice of imposing taxes, then reducing them, and subsequently celebrating these actions is illogical. He dismissed the reforms as an “election gimmick,” suggesting that their supposed advantages have not benefited the poor.
Recalling Rahul Gandhi’s term for GST as ‘Gabbar Singh Tax’, Prabhakar maintained that even the revised rates are unreasonable. He alleged that essential goods have become twice as expensive and criticized the government for taxing items like coffins and cremation services. He accused the Modi government of retreating only to avoid an economic crisis.
Prabhakar highlighted that Telangana is losing Rs 7,000 crore due to these GST changes and insisted that the Central Government must compensate for this loss. He challenged Union Ministers Bandi Sanjay and Kishan Reddy to clarify their plans to reimburse Telangana and address the state’s financial losses over the previous decade.
