'Who stopped Rahul Gandhi and his party from rolling out GST before 2014': BJP slams Congress over tax reforms

The Congress ruled the country for decades and had the opportunity to simplify the complex tax regime and roll out the Goods and Services Tax but lacked courage and intention, BJP's Sambit Patra said.

New Delhi: The BJP on Thursday hailed the GST reforms as a historic measure which will benefit every section of society and hit back at the Congress over its claim that it had been pushing for tax rationalisation, saying nobody had stopped the party in its long tenure from rolling out the unified indirect tax regime.

With some Congress leaders noting that their leader Rahul Gandhi had long favoured the two-tier tax structure as announced by the GST Council, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra said he is "staying in la la land" and that is not going to bring any dividend to his party.

"Who had stopped Rahul Gandhi and his party to bring the GST before 2014? it shows their own inefficiency," Patra told reporters, listing a range of items from household goods to farm sector products to medical items to highlight that these all were charged a much higher VAT when the Congress was in power compared to the proposed taxes.

The Congress ruled the country for decades and had the opportunity to simplify the complex tax regime and roll out the Goods and Services Tax but lacked courage and intention, Patra said.

With the reduced GST applicable from the first day (September 22) of Navratra, there is a sense of "euphoria" in the country, as it has brought smile on everyone's face, he said.

Lauding Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Patra said his government has shown intention, courage and democratic spirit to bring consensus among all states to roll out the GST while all the Congress could do was discuss and debate.

The Congress' claim, he said, is akin to its "garibi hatao" slogan since Independence but its governments could never remove poverty, he said.

The party believes the Sun and moon moves due to the Gandhi family and there would be no India but for them, he said mockingly.

The Puri MP said it is the Congress' mindset to grieve when the country is jubilant, be it the construction of Ram temple, repeal of Article 370 or now the GST reforms.

Patra also had a go at Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh for his criticism that the GST Council, which announced the reforms on Wednesday, was reduced to a formality as PM Modi had already conveyed the substance of the measures in his Independence Day speech.

Unlike Manmohan Singh, Modi is not an "accidental" but performing prime minister and it is but natural that he will lay down his vision that the government will execute, the BJP leader said.

Ramesh may not appreciate it because an "unconstitutional" body like National Advisory Council, which was headed by Sonia Gandhi and was seen to have deep influence on the policy decisions of the Congress-led UPA government, would take decisions that Singh was often not aware of, he said.

In a swipe at Rahul Gandhi, Patra said the Congress leader should stop making atom bomb and hydrogen bomb and focus on his work.

If he keeps silent, then the Congress' fortunes may go up slightly as his speeches only harm his party, Patra claimed.

The GST Council on Wednesday approved a complete overhaul of the tangled Goods and Services Tax regime in a wide-ranging reforms which will reduce taxes on common use items from roti/paratha to hair oil, ice creams and TVs.

The Council approved limiting slabs to 5 per cent and 18 per cent, effective from September 22.

Almost all personal-use items and aspirational goods for the middle class, like ACs and washing machines, will see rate cuts as the government looks to boost domestic spending and cushion the economic blow of the US tariffs.

Premium paid for individual life insurance and health insurance (including family floater) policies too have been exempted from GST. Earlier, such policies were subject to 18 per cent GST.