In a meeting held with Business Advisory Committee, BJP State President & MLA Jammu West Sat Sharma, accompanied by BJP Chief Whip Rajesh Gupta and Bashir Ahmed, MLA Kupwara of People Conference, expressed their concern on the negative approach of the opposition as far as the implementation of GST in the State is concerned. Sat Sharma said that the opposition is deliberately trying to create hurdle in the application of GST in the state due to their anti-people stance. GST will benefit every section of the society leading to a win-win situation for all. However, the opposition has chosen to oppose it for their narrow political ends. Sat further warned that if application of GST is delayed beyond 01 July, it is badly going to hurt not only the traders and businessmen but the common man as well since the prices of goods and services in J&K will skyrocket due to double-taxation. It would also have a negative impact on the various ongoing and future developmental projects Referring to the sine-die (for indefinite period) adjournment of the special session of Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Assembly, which began on 17 June, he said that it is very unfortunate that the leaders from the opposition parties are not even ready to participate in the discussion on the proposed GST Bill and are shying away from their legislative responsibility.
Terming the sine-die adjournment as unfortunate and avoidable, Sat said that instead of being adjourned sine-die, the session could have been postponed for a definite period or gone for a break or recess, so that the session could have resumed to discuss and pass the GST Bill so that its implementation is not delayed in the State. He said that, if the opposition is having certain reservations on the GST issue, they should have used the floor of House to discuss the issue threadbare so that all misgivings are clarified by the members of the treasury benches.
Sat Sharma regretted that rather than choosing the democratic procedure, the opposition leaders chose to hog limelight and headlines by politicizing the subject and making politically motivated statements to arouse passions. The concerns of the opposition were addressed during the All Parties Meet convened by the Chief Minister but they still decided to oppose the bill so that its implementation in the state is delayed. The doors of the government are always open but the opposition is adamant lamented the BJP leader.
He also rebutted the opposition charge of playing with the special status of J&K, by the introduction of GST in the State. On the contrary, it will initiate a new era of tax compliance among the traders and consumers which in turn will strengthen the finances of the State, since J&K is a consumer state. As a rough estimate, an annual revenue of 10,000 crore will be generated said Sat Sharma.
