Terming the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on Haj Pilgrimage as unfortunate, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has assured that the State government will fight with the Union government to do away with the GST.
He flagged off five buses of the first batch of Haj pilgrims to Hyderabad en route to Haj, from Praja Vedika at Undavalli, near here, on Friday. The Chief Minister said 2,348 people were going on Haj pilgrimage from Andhra Pradesh, including 1,247 men and 1,101 women. A two month-old-baby Lukhman of Anantapur and 77-year-old Sayyed Salimabi of Amaravati are among the Haj pilgrims.
The Haj pilgrims suggested that a direct flight from Gannavaram airport to Jeddah would be beneficial to them. Responding to it, Mr. Naidu assured them that he would take up the matter with the Centre. He hoped that a direct flight would be a reality by 2019.
Striking a chord with them, Mr. Naidu said the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) was the first to oppose the Bill on triple talaq.
Subsequently, the Union government has been making amendments to the Bill. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was Chief Minister of Gujarat when the Godhra riots took place. The TDP strongly demanded resignation of Mr. Modi then, he recalled.
Going further, he said the TDP had entered into a tie- up with the BJP only to protect the interests of Andhra Pradesh post-bifurcation. But, the NDA government miserably failed to fulfil assurances given to the AP forcing the TDP to come out of the NDA, he sid.
Dropping enough hints that there would be a Cabinet reshuffle or expansion in near future, Mr. Naidu said, “Exercise is on to induct a Muslim into Cabinet. The State government is committed to protect interests of Minorities in the State.”
Listing out the welfare programmes and schemes that were under implementation for the welfare of Muslims, the Chief Minister said that the government was committed to the welfare of the Muslims.
Haj committee chairman Ahmed Hussain, Wakf committee chairman Jaleel Khan and Haj Committee members were present.