Ponnam says BJP ‘drama’ on new GST slabs comes after looting people for 10 years

BC Welfare and Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar alleged that the BJP has sucked the blood of the poor for eight years with the ‘Gabbar Singh Tax’ (GST), and was now trying to project the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rollback as if they were doing a great service.

Speaking at a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan on Tuesday, the Minister said the Centre was now claiming credit for reducing GST rates to 5% or 18%. But they had already doubled the prices of essential commodities. “Salt rose from ₹10 to ₹20, dal from ₹60 to ₹160, and edible oil from ₹70 to ₹160. They taxed a poor man’s meal more than luxury food in five-star hotels,” he charged. The GST regime had only burdened the poor and small traders while offering relief to the rich. Even basic necessities and funeral expenses had been taxed under GST.

Citing Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s recent statement that the Centre earned ₹22 lakh crore in just six months through GST, Mr. Ponnam said this was proof of how the government had squeezed common people.

Mr. Prabhakar stressed that Telangana alone was losing nearly ₹7,000 crore every year because of GST. “When GST was introduced, the Union government promised to bear the losses of States for 10 years. But that has not been fulfilled. Telangana is being pushed into financial distress,” he said. He demanded clarity from Union ministers from Telangana, G. Kishan Reddy and Bandi Sanjay, on how the State’s losses would be addressed. “They must speak up for Telangana in Delhi instead of remaining silent,” he said.