Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Ripun Bora on Tuesday said the BJP Government has “totally failed” in the implementation of the Goods and Service Tax (GST).
Talking to media persons here on Tuesday, APCC president Bora criticised the BJP Government on the GST issue. “A year has passed following the implementation of the GST, but it has not brought any major difference to the economy as yet, while glitches have increased the demand of cash,” Bora said.
Referring to the comment of senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, APCC president Ripun Bora said GST is a ‘total failure’ and it should be taken back. He said due to GST, the development of Assam has been affected.
“Why did the Government forcefully introduce the GST? And now after one year it has yielded no result. GST has become burden for the people and it has slowed down the economy. BJP has hidden agenda and they are working for the capitalists by crippling the middle class people. GST has totally failed and the Government should roll back its decision,” Bora said.
The APCC president said an executive meeting of the party would be organised in Dibrugarh on Wednesday where major issues of the State would be discussed.
“In the meeting, we will create a roadmap for the upcoming panchyat election and Lok Sabha elections. We will discuss about the political, economic and law and order situation of the State and many more major issues like NRC will be discussed in the meeting,” Bora informed the media persons.
Bora came down heavily on the new liquor policy of the BJP-led Government in Assam. He attacked the Government for supporting consumption of liquor. “In our time, we announced 24 days as dry day in a year but now the Government has announced only three days as dry day in a year. It means that they are supporting the consumption of liquor,” he added.
APCC president accused the BJP Government for trying to destroy the Panchayati Raj system. “They are not willing to conduct the panchayat election in Assam. Recently, the High Court gave an order to conduct panchayat election in September. All the panchayat schemes which were meant for the poorer section have not implemented well,” he said.
He added after BJP formed the Government in Centre and Assam, the prices of essential commodities have been rises. “In our times, they (BJP) have criticised us for failing to control the price rise but what are they doing to control the prices of petrol and diesel. BJP is not concerned about the common people; they only create emotion to polarise votes,” Bora alleged.
On the other hand, Congress leader and leader of the opposition, Debabrata Saikia, accused the BJP Government for failing to control the syndicate.