Congress leader Rahul Gandhi lashed out at the BJP-led central government over taxes imposed on the common populace as well as corporates. A day earlier the party had asserted that it was “against Jhooth Ki Gathri culture” and alleged that writing off loans was the ‘real’ freebie.
“Raise taxes on people, cut taxes for Mitron – the ‘natural course’ of action for suit-boot-loot sarkar,” he alleged sharing a graphic on Twitter. Comparing Congress-led administrations against the current regime, the Wayanad MP claimed that the BJP had opted to impose higher tax on people and lower tax on corporates.
Earlier in July, Gandhi had taken several potshots at the Central administration after it chose to increase GST rates on certain items, dubbing it a ‘Gabbar Singh Tax’.
More recently on Saturday, the Opposition party had asserted that welfare schemes like the Food Security Act, MGNREGA and other initiatives designed to uplift people from poverty were not freebies. The Congress claimed that small amounts or assistance given to the poor are categorised as freebies, while the ‘freebies that the rich friends of the government were getting through low tax rates, write offs and exemptions were categorised as necessary incentives’.
The Congress said that it is against ‘Giving Muft Ki Gajak’, which the government is giving through corporate tax cuts, by causing Rs 5.8 lakh crores loss to the exchequer, when public sector banks had transferred Rs 7.27 lakh crores in the loans written off account.
“If schemes like Food Security Act, MSP to farmers, MGNREGA, MDM come free of cost and are being widely discussed, when will there be a discussion on the loss of Rs 1.45 lakh crore per year to the government due to the reduction in corporate tax rates,” Congress spokesperson Gaurav Vallabh had asked.
