The prime minister’s address on GST is another attempt to mislead the public, says the Rajya Sabha MP
NEW DELHI — The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) tore into Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s GST address, declaring the recently announced ‘GST Bachat Utsav’ (Savings Festival) as another attempt to mislead the public.
Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, senior AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said the country has already witnessed how demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) pushed people into endless queues, killed over a hundred citizens, and drained the economy while delivering no promised results on black money, counterfeit notes or terrorism.
The AAP leader argued that the Modi government’s policies have devastated micro, small and medium enterprises, increased the prices of essential goods like milk, electricity and education, and left citizens struggling, even as the prime minister himself relies on foreign goods while preaching Swadeshi to the nation.
“The prime minister has launched a ‘Bachat Utsav’ in the country. Whenever the prime minister makes big announcements or claims, the public gets swayed and forgets his reality. People forget whether this is really a Savings Festival or a Slap Festival. During demonetisation, this same prime minister had asked the people of the country for 50 days and said that if their destiny did not change, he could be hanged at any crossroads.”
“The entire country joined the celebration of demonetisation and stood in queues. More than 100 people lost their lives while standing in those queues, and 99.30% of the money returned to the banks. Neither black money ended, nor counterfeit notes ended, nor did terrorism end with demonetisation,” he recalled.
Recalling the GST launch, Sanjay Singh said, “In 2017, the prime minister told the people of the country that we had just received one freedom, and now his government was bringing another freedom. The government was bringing GST, which he claimed would bring about a major economic revolution in the country.”
“Once again, people celebrated under the prime minister’s deception. PM Modi increased the tax from 5%to 28%, and still people continued celebrating GST. For the past eight years, we have been shouting that this tax system is wrong. In the name of tax, the people of the country are being looted. Prices of milk, water, electricity, education and everything else are rising, breaking the back of the common man. Despite our outcry, no one paid any heed,” he emphasised.
On taxation through fuel prices, the AAP MP added, “Along with GST, the loot in the name of petrol and diesel also began. In the last eight years, the central government has collected ₹127 lakh crore from the people of the country in the name of GST. Today the people are going to join this so-called Bachat Utsav, but it is the same government that has been slapping them for eight years.”
He further revealed, “This money was not collected from industrialists like Adani and Ambani. Fifty percent of the poor population contributed 64% of this tax, the middle and upper middle class contributed 33%, while the rich paid just 3%. In the last eight years, the BJP’s central government has looted ₹80 lakh crore from the pockets of the poor in the name of GST. After looting ₹80 lakh crore from poor people, PM Modi is now celebrating a Bachat Utsav. The BJP has become the ‘Bharatiya Jeb Katra Party,’ which only cuts people’s pockets.”
Sanjay Singh said that now the Modi government is claiming that revolutionary reforms in GST will greatly benefit the common people. They say the public will save ₹2 lakh crore, while the government itself will incur a loss of ₹47,000 crore. If the government is facing a loss of ₹47,000 crore, how can the public benefit by ₹2 lakh crore? This mathematics of the ‘Bharatiya Jeb Katra Party’ is beyond comprehension.
“Even if we accept the claim of ₹47,000 crore savings, the fact remains that the government has illegally collected ₹79.50 lakh crore from the poor in the name of GST. The Aam Aadmi Party demands that the central government return the illegally collected ₹80 lakh crore to the poor of the country. Even if we go by PM Modi’s own claim that the people will save ₹2 lakh crore, then per person the monthly savings will be just ₹115,” he asserted.
Warning the public, Sanjay Singh added, “It is important to understand whether this is a Savings Festival or a Slap Festival. Because taxes on raw materials have been increased from 12% to 18%, while on finished goods taxes are being reduced to zero per cent. We need to remain cautious of every festival of PM Modi. It could happen that after an election result at 8 pm, the prime minister suddenly declares that cutting your pockets is again necessary for the nation and raises a 5% tax to 15% or 28%. PM Modi is not worthy of trust.”
He further added, “During the announcement of GST reforms, the Government of India said that people should now adopt Swadeshi. But the camera in which the prime minister was speaking was also foreign. The prime minister wears spectacles from Italy, a watch from Switzerland, uses a pen from Germany, a phone from America, a car from Germany, even foreign planes. Clothes and shoes, everything is foreign. PM Modi is immersed in foreign goods from head to toe, yet after looting ₹127 lakh crore from the people, he asks them to adopt Swadeshi. When America imposed a 50 percent tariff on India, only then did PM Modi remember Swadeshi.”
On the state of small industries, Sanjay Singh said, “Swadeshi means that goods should be manufactured within India. For this, the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) works. According to the figures of the MSME Ministry, 48% of MSMEs in the country have shut down. Nearly 3 crore MSMEs have closed. Before PM Modi came, about 6 crore MSMEs were functioning, which have been reduced to 3 crore.”
He pointed out, “This is PM Modi’s Make in India. The Modi government has destroyed micro, small, medium and cottage industries, and now the Prime Minister talks of Swadeshi. The Modi government is guilty of shutting down 3 crore MSMEs. The youth of the country should dig into these figures, only then will they be able to expose the reality of Modi’s celebrations.”
On India’s imports, Sanjay Singh said, “To promote Swadeshi in India, the Modi government has actually hired companies. According to the Ministry of Commerce, India imports goods from almost every country in the world. After our 20 soldiers lost their lives in Galwan Valley, ‘andhbhakts’ were asked to boycott Chinese goods, but PM Modi said Chinese goods must be invented. After the Galwan incident, the Government of India has imported goods worth ₹39 lakh crore from China.”
He elaborated, “India is giving lakhs of crores of rupees to China, while China gives missiles and drones to Pakistan to attack India. In the last two years, India’s imports from China have increased by 13.92%, from America by 10.40%, from Japan by 9.17%, and from Britain by 4.23%. Imports from Turkmenistan have increased by 121%, from Mauritius by 195%, from Cyprus by 20%. The Modi government is purchasing goods from nearly 190 countries. In 2023-24, India imported ₹56 lakh crore worth of goods from 190 countries, and in 2024-25 imports rose to ₹60 lakh crore. This is the reality of PM Modi’s Swadeshi.”
Highlighting declining investments, Sanjay Singh said, “Foreign Direct Investment has fallen by 43%, which amounts to ₹3.32 lakh crore. In the name of Bachat Utsav, the Modi government is making fools of the people of this country. Despite the fall in crude oil prices, petrol and diesel prices have not decreased. The fall in crude prices has brought no benefit to the people of the country. The people gain nothing, only PM Modi’s close friends benefit.”
“Instead of celebrating in the name of reduced GST rates, the government should focus on how much it has looted the people over the past eight years. From the common people, ₹127 lakh crore has been looted. Out of this, ₹80 lakh crore has been looted from the poor, which must be returned. PM Modi and the BJP should first adopt Swadeshi themselves and then preach Swadeshi to the people of the country. PM Modi’s slogan of Swadeshi is hollow. He will keep distracting people in the name of Swadeshi for a few more years. The people of the country must examine the gap between PM Modi’s words and reality. Otherwise, he will keep making them celebrate everything while continuing to ruin them,” concluded the senior AAP leader.
