BJP 'rebels' Yashwant, Shatrughan attack Modi govt over GST, demonetisation, again

Once again both the Sinhas have attacked the Narendra Modi government over the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and demonetisation.

Delivering a lecture on the GST and demonetisaton in Pune, Maharashtra, on Thursday, former finance minister Yashwant said the implementation of the GST in India was a 'textbook example' of how it should not be introduced.

'The GST is the best indirect tax regime globally and there is no doubt about it and that is why it is adopted in most of the countries. But the way GST was implemented in India is a textbook example of how the tax reform should not be implemented anywhere. It should be a case study at Harvard and other universities.'

On Thursday, Shatrughan, the BJP leader and Lok Sabha MP, said that the atmosphere in the country is vitiated to an extent that 'you're either with me (the government) or you're an anti-national'.

He added that the demonetisation and GST have proved to be 'neem ke upar karela (bitter gourd over neem)'.

The BJP leader lamented that because of the Modi government's economic policies lakhs of youth have lost their jobs in the country.

Replying to the criticism against him for speaking on economic decisions



of the government, the actor-turned-politician said that the current Modi cabinet has 'a television actress who is an HRD minister and a lawyer who is a Finance Minister'.

'Recently, I had gone to attend a book release function organised by Congress leader Manish Tiwari, where people asked me how could I be speaking on the economy being a film star,' he said during the book release function of the Rajya Sabha MP and rebel JD (U) leader Ali Anwar in Delhi.

'I don't say that (winning) 2019 (Lok Sabha elections) for the BJP will be impossible, but it could be difficult if warnings of Yashwant Sinha are not heeded to,' he added.

Both the veteran leaders and former Union ministers have been continuously attacking the Modi government, especially on its failure on economic policies.

Critics of both the Sinhas say that since they are denied any ministerial berth in the Modi cabinet thus they are angry and venting out their frustration by attacking the Centre.

Many also say that since the Gujarat Assembly elections are going to be held soon, thus both the Sinhas are aggressively criticising the ruling BJP to tarnish its image. The polls in Gujarat will take place on December 9 and 14.