Opp shedding crocodile tears, its Manipur grievances drama: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

Sitharaman took a “crocodile tears” dig at the Opposition parties after they walked out before a discussion on the Manipur Goods and Services Tax (Second Amendment) Bill, 2025.

The Bill was tabled for the consideration of the House by Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary.

In her reply to the discussion on the Bill, Sitharaman said Opposition parties were not behaving responsibly by skipping debates when critical Bills are passed. “Throughout 2024, we saw them shedding crocodile tears on Manipur… asking did the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) visit; did the Home Minister (Amit Shah) visit; did the law and order come to normalcy… when we brought in a Bill for Manipur’s budget… even at that time, they did not participate in the debate, they did not think of Manipur people’s welfare,” she said.

“So, all the grievances they voiced about Manipur were all drama; I am ashamed to say this, sorry to say this,” Sitharaman said.

The Opposition had walked out after the Bill was taken up for consideration and before the discussion started, as the demand for a debate on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls was not allowed by Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice President C P Radhakrishnan.

Sitharaman said that the Bill was important as it will prevent leakages through the track and trace system and will help ease of doing business in Manipur. She said that the Bill removes ambiguities in how plants and machinery were described.

“The entire state of Manipur and its businesses, enterprises… people will benefit from the removal of this ambiguity. The entire nation has benefited but… there was no government in Manipur. Now, we are giving that benefit to them,” she said.

Sitharaman also addressed issues raised during the debate on inverted duty structure by YSRCRP’s Ayodhya Rami Reddy Alla, saying a lot of work went into the issue of inverted duty structure. “I am happy to say that most of the items where inversion happened, because the final product were sold at 5%, the inputs were bought at 12%, which is no more there, the difference could not be retrieved and as a result, there was inversion for retrieving the difference, you had to give them refunds. That inversion problem has been largely addressed in the new generation GST which has come into force, so it has been addressed,” the Finance Minister said.

On the hospitality industry, Sitharaman said hotel rooms which charged Rs 7,500 or less per night were earlier taxed at 12%, now will have to pay only 5%. This, she said, will boost tourism in the state.

Earlier, 13 MPs participated in the discussion on the Bill. Supporting the Bill, Alla said that Manipur can now focus on sustainable development and tap into the national economic progress and benefit from inclusive growth.

Nominated member Harshvardhan Shringla said that the Bill was a major step to strengthen the tax system, improve revenue, help struggling businesses and speed-up Manipur’s economic revival.