Congress will withdraw GST on handloom products & keep only one tax slab if it comes to power: Rahul Gandhi
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Friday promised the weavers that the five per cent goods and services tax (GST) imposed on handloom products by the BJP government will be withdrawn if the party comes to power at the Centre, besides revisiting the entire tax regime itself.
He also assured tribal farmers that lakhs of pending applications seeking podu rights on forest land would be cleared and that agriculture rights would be given to them if the Congress forms the government in Telangana.
Gandhi interacted with the weavers, tribal farmers and Lambada community members during his Bharat Jodo yatra in Mahbubnagar district of Telangana on Friday.
“I have been interacting with the youth. They have ambitions to become software engineers, IAS, police and army (officers). But they go silent when I ask them whether they would get jobs after completing their education,” he said.
“The demonetisation and GST brought by the Narendra Modi government are the reasons for unemployment reaching its highest rate in the last 45 years. The GST and demonetisation ruined small and medium businesses resulting in closure of lakhs of such businesses and left crores of people unemployed. When the Congress forms the government at the national level, it will revisit the GST and there will be only one tax slab not five,” he said.
As far as Telangana is concerned, land is the biggest issue. “Many tribal people are in possession of land. Many of them have pattas. Several are doing agriculture on forest land. Many are in occupation of lakhs of acres of land which is under dispute between forest and revenue departments,” Gandhi said.
“But chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s government wants to snatch away the lands. If Congress is voted to form the government, we will rectify Dharani portal, give agriculture rights, pattas to tribals on forest land as per the forest Act and include land and its ownership details on Dharani,” Gandhi said.
Terming KCR as raja (king) of Telangana, Gandhi further said that BJP and TRS are joint partners in politics but mislead people by projecting themselves as rivals. “While the BJP is spreading hatred, TRS supports it. Whenever the BJP wanted, TRS supported the Modi government in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha,” he said.
On his yatra, Gandhi said: “Walking 25-odd kilometres daily is not easy. But I am not feeling tired. It is because of the love and affection you are showering on me. Your love gives me strength to walk further. While the BJP and RSS are spreading hatred and violence, Bharat Jodo Yatra is promoting religious harmony. You can see people of different religions, regions and communities walking together and helping each other when one of them slips during the yatra. This is the sachcha hindusthan.”
