‘What use is GST to govt if it is pain for people’: Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan

His response came days after senior BJP leader and former finance minister Yashwant Sinha launched a stinging attack on the government over handling of the economy. In his article in The Indian Express, Sinha had blamed Finanace Minister Arun Jaitley for the “mess” in the economy and pointed out that the economy is in a downward spiral and that its revival is unlikely by the 2019 elections.

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“What use is GST to the government if it is a pain for the people,” Vijayan asked while pointing out the flaws in implementing the indirect tax system. “We cannot term GST as a good idea in any way because through its implementation the Centre has taken away the federal rights of states to collect the tax,” the Kerala CM added.

Vijayan further said the Centre should have started working actively to rectify the flaws of the GST when it started emerging. “The government should have asked the opinion of various states. I also shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to call a meeting of chief ministers and state finance ministers. But nothing of the sort happened,” Vijayan said.

Commenting on the increasing cases of intolerance and communal related events, Vijayan said Kerala has always taken a strong stand against communalism. “This is also because of the strength of the leftist ideology. The time has arrived when a strong stand needs to be taken against communalism and divisive politics,” he observed.