Pawan Khera says PM Modi's address has "nothing new", accuses centre of 'destroying' MSMEs by demonetisation & GST

New Delhi [India], September 21 (ANI): Hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation on the eve of the implementation of the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) reforms, the Congress party dismissed the speech as a mere repetition of earlier statements.
Congress leader Pawan Khera said there was "nothing new" in the Prime Minister's remarks and accused the government of devastating micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) by implementing demonetisation and GST.
"Was there anything new in what PM Modi said today? He made the announcement on 15th August. Today, he has made an announcement that we have been demanding since 2017... MSMEs were devastated by their own demonetisation and GST... There is a great need for state-level GST so that states can bring Liquor, petrol and real estate under their own GST rates," Khera said, speaking to ANI.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh also criticised PM Modi's address on GST reforms and said that the party has long argued that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a Growth-Suppressing Tax and that the current reforms are inadequate.
In a post shared on X, Ramesh said, "The Prime Minister addressed the nation today to claim sole ownership of the amendments made to the GST regime by the GST Council, a constitutional body."
The Congress leader also argued that the current structure is burdened with too many tax brackets, punitive rates on mass-consumption items, large-scale evasion and misclassification, high compliance costs, and an inverted duty structure that discourages output.
"The Indian National Congress has long argued that the GST has been a Growth Suppressing Tax. It is plagued with a high number of tax brackets, punitive tax rates for items of mass consumption, large-scale evasion and misclassification, costly compliance burdens, and an inverted duty structure (lower tax on output as compared to inputs). We have been demanding a GST 2.0 since July 2017 itself. This was a key pledge made in our Nyay Patra for the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, he said.
Earlier, addressing the nation ahead of the rollout, PM Modi said the reforms would usher in a countrywide "GST Bachat Utsav," benefiting poor, middle-class, farmers, traders, and entrepreneurs alike.
"From the sunrise of the very first day of Navratri, the nation is taking another important and major step towards the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan. Tomorrow, on the first day of Navratri, September 22, along with the rising of Suryadev, the Next Generation GST Reforms will come into effect," he said.
The Prime Minister said that with the increased savings and easier purchases, the poor, middle class, farmers, women, traders and entrepreneurs of the country are all set to "benefit greatly." (ANI)