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The Congress is irked at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent speech in Gujarat that the party's vice-president Rahul Gandhi is propagating a 'Grand Stupid Thought' by suggesting that the GIST could be capped at 18 per cent.
Former finance minister and senior spokesman of the Congress, P Chidambaram, said on Twitter it was not just the Congress, but the Chief Economic Advisor of the Centre, Arvind Subramaniam, had also argued for a Revenue Neutral Rate of 15 to 15.5 per cent.
"If it is Grand Stupid Thought to argue for a cap of the tax rate at 18 per cent, then CEA Arvind Subramaniam and many other economists are stupid. Is that what PM is saying? Has PM read the CEA's report on Revenue Neutral Rate? Did not CEA recommend an RNR of 15-15.5%?" Chidambaram tweeted.
He asked the Centre why can't the normal GST rate be 15 per cent and RNR plus rate on luxury goods be 18 per cent. "Tax and spend is the credo of the BJP government. Example: when crude oil prices fell by 50 per cent, prices of petrol and diesel remained the same," he added.
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