By Special Correspondent
Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee president Jeetu Patwari on Thursday met traders at New Market, Bhopal, during a programme organised by the District Congress Committee. Addressing the gathering, Patwari strongly criticised the BJP government’s handling of Goods and Services Tax (GST) reforms.
He alleged that the BJP was not celebrating savings but rather “an era of loot and lies.” Patwari said the Congress had always advocated for a single, simple, and transparent GST rate of around 18 per cent. Instead, the BJP government imposed a complex multi-slab structure of 5, 12, 18, and 28 per cent, which, he argued, has caused serious losses to both the common public and the trading community.
Patwari further claimed that Congress, under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership, consistently pressured the central government to reduce and simplify GST for the benefit of citizens and traders. He also demanded that the government refund the “excess amounts unfairly collected” over the years.
The event saw the presence of senior leaders including District Congress president Praveen Saxena, Atif Aqueel, former minister P.C. Sharma, state general secretary Sanjeev Saxena, rural district president Anokhi Man Singh Patel, Praveen Dholpure, Sherayar Khan, Vikrant Choudhary, Rahul Raj, Vivek Tripathi, Viraj Yadav and several other party functionaries and workers.
