Jambusar (Bharuch): A day after India's ranking in 'ease of doing business' improved by 30 notches, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi blasted the BJP-led NDA government for gloating over a 'foreign institution" report and said that demonetization and shoddily implemented Goods and Services Tax (GST) have wrecked the country's economy.
Hitting the roads of south Gujarat in his third leg of the three-day Navsarjan Yatra, Gandhi even took on finance minister Arun Jaitley and advised him to check the ground reality before going ga-ga over the WB report.
"Arun Jaitleyji quoted a foreign institution report which says that ease of doing business in India has improved. Jaitleyji sits in offices and believes what outsiders say. I request him to spend 5-10 minutes with a small shopkeeper on the road or mid-sized businessman and ask them how easy it is to do business. They will scream and tell you there is no such ease," Gandhi told a cheering crowd.
"This government believes what a foreign institution says and lists the benefits of GST and note bank. But they refuse to trust the country's poor who are in extreme distress and incensed," he said, adding that the entire country is blanketed with despondency and anger.
Slamming the government for planning celebrations on November 8, the day when Modi announced note ban, Gandhi said that the PM did not understand that all the cash is not black money and all black money is not in cash. "He committed a blunder. Maximum black money is in Swiss accounts, gold and land. PM has done nothing about it and not a single Swiss account holder has been jailed in three years. Vijay Mallya too is happily living in England," he said.
"If they have really cracked down on black money, where is the promised Rs 15 lakh in citizens' accounts?" he asked, adding that the poor are only toiling in India while their hard-earned money is being taken away by the government.
The Congress scion said that agriculture and small and medium businesses, which depend largely on cash transactions, were dealt a severe blow.
Dubbing GST as Gabbar Singh Tax, he said that the new tax regime was implemented abruptly instead of testing the system first. "Congress leaders met Jaitleyji and requested him that there shouldn't be multiple tax slabs and the rate shouldn't exceed 18%. We told him that it is not a political issue but impacts India's economy and it should be implemented carefully. But he did not listen," he said.
"One person came to me saying that he makes namkeen that has cashews and pista. He was clueless on pricing the product as there are different rates for different ingredients," the Congress VP said, adding that businesses are facing immense difficulties in filling up forms and there are no accountants.
Hitting the roads of south Gujarat in his third leg of the three-day Navsarjan Yatra, Gandhi even took on finance minister Arun Jaitley and advised him to check the ground reality before going ga-ga over the WB report.
"Arun Jaitleyji quoted a foreign institution report which says that ease of doing business in India has improved. Jaitleyji sits in offices and believes what outsiders say. I request him to spend 5-10 minutes with a small shopkeeper on the road or mid-sized businessman and ask them how easy it is to do business. They will scream and tell you there is no such ease," Gandhi told a cheering crowd.
"This government believes what a foreign institution says and lists the benefits of GST and note bank. But they refuse to trust the country's poor who are in extreme distress and incensed," he said, adding that the entire country is blanketed with despondency and anger.
Slamming the government for planning celebrations on November 8, the day when Modi announced note ban, Gandhi said that the PM did not understand that all the cash is not black money and all black money is not in cash. "He committed a blunder. Maximum black money is in Swiss accounts, gold and land. PM has done nothing about it and not a single Swiss account holder has been jailed in three years. Vijay Mallya too is happily living in England," he said.
"If they have really cracked down on black money, where is the promised Rs 15 lakh in citizens' accounts?" he asked, adding that the poor are only toiling in India while their hard-earned money is being taken away by the government.
The Congress scion said that agriculture and small and medium businesses, which depend largely on cash transactions, were dealt a severe blow.
Dubbing GST as Gabbar Singh Tax, he said that the new tax regime was implemented abruptly instead of testing the system first. "Congress leaders met Jaitleyji and requested him that there shouldn't be multiple tax slabs and the rate shouldn't exceed 18%. We told him that it is not a political issue but impacts India's economy and it should be implemented carefully. But he did not listen," he said.
"One person came to me saying that he makes namkeen that has cashews and pista. He was clueless on pricing the product as there are different rates for different ingredients," the Congress VP said, adding that businesses are facing immense difficulties in filling up forms and there are no accountants.
Get latest news & live updates on the go on your pc with News App. Download The Times of India news app for your device.
