Gehlot questions Congress ministers' exclusion from GST waiver GoM

Jaipur, June 1 Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday questioned the Centre's decision not to include Finance Ministers from Congress-ruled states in the Group of Ministers (GoM) which has been formed to examine the GST exemption issue for Covid-19 relief material.

He ccused the Union government of making a deliberate attempt to keep the principal opposition party, the Congress, out of the GoM.

"The Union Government has set up a GoM following the GST Council Meeting of May 28th, 2021. A deliberate attempt has been made to keep the principal opposition party, the Congress, that has three members in the GST Council out of the GoM. Only the BJP has more members in the GST Council," he said.

Contending that keeping out the Congress members is most unfortunate and strikes at the very roots of cooperative federalism, he noted that it is pertinent to mention that no minister from West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu who had taken a stand contrary to that of proposed agenda has been been included in the GoM.

"We request the 8 members of the GoM to reflect on the exclusion of the Congress Finance Ministers before they proceed with their deliberations. We also urge the members of GoM to take into account views expressed by Rajasthan and other mentioned states, wherein we had asked for Zero Tax Rate for Covid related supplies in public interest," Gehlot said.

Earlier, in the day, his Chhattisgarh counterpart, Bhupesh Baghel, had also flagged the non-inclusion of any Congress minister in the GoM.