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‘Army of thugs’: Shiv Sena slams Centre over GST dues
The Shiv Sena on Saturday attacked the Centre over non-payment of dues to states and called it an “army of thugs” which is “pickpocketing” the states. In an editorial
The Shiv Sena on Saturday attacked the Centre over non-payment of dues to states and called it an “army of thugs” which is “pickpocketing” the states. In an editorial in party mouthpiece Saamana, the Sena said the Centre has not paid Goods and Services Taxes (GST) compensation worth over ₹50,000 crore to states including Maharashtra, Telangana, New Delhi, Kerala, Punjab and West Bengal.
The editorial also attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the introduction of GST and his foreign visits, which, the Sena claimed, has cost the exchequer ₹500 crore.
The party, through the editorial, said that the delay in paying GST dues to states is hitting the latter’s financial calculations. The Uddhav Thackeray-led party said that with the roll-out of GST, the income of the state government has been hit as the Centre’ promise to compensate revenue has not been kept.
Earlier this week, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray wrote to Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman seeking ₹15,557 crore dues, including GST compensation.
“Prime Minister Modi had trumpeted that GST is a revolutionary step. The states that were dependent on production were robbed of it. The earnings through octroi of the municipal corporation were stopped. It was promised that all these revenues will be compensated. Now, it seems like it was false hope,” the editorial said.
The party said that the non-payment of dues is leading to a “state versus centre” situation. The editorial said, “Now if the voice of the states is being stifled over the non-payment of dues then they should come together to raise their voices against the army of thugs. The Centre must return the GST money to the states. Why are you pickpocketing the states?”
The Sena also trained its guns at Modi stating that the Centre has not paid Air India for his travels.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi is constantly on foreign trips and Air India [plane] is used. All this is not free, instead; the exchequer has to bear the burden of it. There is dilly-dallying over payment to Air India for expenses nearly worth ₹500 crore, incurred from PM’s foreign trips,” the Marathi daily claimed in its editorial.
