Opposition leader ‘tears’ into VAT Bill in Delhi Assembly

The three BJP MLAs in the House — Gupta, O P Sharma and Jagdish Pradhan —protested in the Well of the Assembly, contending that the ruling Aam Aadmi Party had made misleading claims of not increasing VAT in its Budget.

The protest culminated with Gupta tearing up a copy of the Delhi VAT (second Amendment) Bill, which was introduced in the Assembly by Finance Minister Manish Sisodia on Monday, and flinging the pieces of paper in the air.

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As the pieces fell on the floor, the three BJP MLAs staged a walkout.

The VAT Amendment Bill will allow the government to hike the tax on 11 items by up to 30 per cent. The items that could be impacted by a higher VAT are mostly petroleum and tobacco related. They are naptha, aviation turbine fuel, spirit, gasoline, furnace oil, wax (except candle wax), any mixture and combination of above products, foreign liquor and Indian-made foreign liquor, country liquor, narcotics, molasses, rectified spirit, lottery tickets, brake fluid, tobacco gutkha, unprocessed tobacco, bidis and tobacco used in making bidis and hookah tobacco, aerated drinks and watches costing above Rs 5,000.

However, Sisodia refuted the allegations made by the BJP and claimed that those who had interpreted the increase in the VAT cap as an increase in the levy of tax, had actually not read the VAT Amendment Bill.

“This parcha-faad (paper-tearing) party tore no papers in UP where the VAT ceiling is 50 per cent. States like Haryana, Gujarat and Rajasthan, which have their party’s government, have unlimited VAT. We have only up to 30 per cent. Flexibility in VAT is different from increase in tax,” Sisodia said.