Bhopal: A candid confession by Madhya Pradesh minister Om Prakash Dhurve that he did not understand the Goods and Services Tax (GST) left the BJP red-faced as it argued that he is only a minister and not a chartered accountant.
According to Dhurve, even big CAs are not able to understand the GST leave aside traders and people like him. He made the remarks during an address to a gathering of BJP workers organised to mark anti-black money Day at Umaria town on November 8, the first anniversary of demonetisation.
A video of his speech has gone viral on social media. “The results (of GST) would come after some time... there are problems as of now. What is GST, I am not able to understand myself... (Hence) I will not speak on this issue, let the experts speak,” Dhurve told the gathering.
“Even big CAs are not able to understand. What it is.... even traders are not able to understand,” he added. The BJP, however, tried to defend him stating that Dhurve is right in saying that people would gradually understand the new taxation system.
“GST is a new tax regime. He (Dhurve) is a minister and not a CA. So, what he was saying is that people would gradually understand about this new tax system,” state BJP chief Nandkumar Singh Chauhan said.
Dhurve’s statement gave an opportunity to the opposition Congress to slam the BJP-led NDA government as it said that the GST is complex and even the Centre is unable to understand it.
“The Centre has been making continuous changes in the GST since it was launched. Even the government is not able to understand its complexities. So, Dhurve ji was also right in saying that he is not able to understand it,” state Congress spokesman Pankaj Chaturvedi said.
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