"When did Opposition ever talk about reforms?" Gajendra Singh Shekhawat

Shekhawat mentioned that the opposition used to call GST "Gabbar Singh Tax".

"The 140 crore people of the country are looking at the GST reforms with enthusiasm. I want to ask, when did the Opposition ever talk about reforms? The Opposition was calling it 'Gabbar Singh Tax'. They used to say that whenever our government comes to power, we will abolish it...It is broadly estimated that more than 2 lakh crore rupees per year will remain in the pockets of the country's general consumers annually," he said.

Earlier today, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw slammed the Opposition parties for criticising the Goods and Services Tax (GST) reforms, which come into effect on Monday.

Comparing the taxes on household items under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime to the taxes after the GST cut, he said that the industries and the MSMEs were under the "tax terror" before 2014.

Addressing a press conference in the national capital, he said, "The GST reforms have been implemented today. A while ago, I was in a market in RK Puram, and people buying goods there also said that they were happy."

"Under the UPA, there was a tax terror on industries and MSMEs. The web of several taxes was unified into GST. When GST was widely accepted, the next-generation reforms were brought in. Step by step, the nation has reached a good position. I thank Prime Minister Modi and the Finance Minister for the reforms," he said.

Vaishnaw's response came after Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that the latter opposed the GST when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat.

"From 2006-2014, for eight years, only one CM opposed the GST, and that CM became the Prime Minister in 2014 and took a U-turn and emerged as a messiah of GST in 2017," Ramesh, General Secretary incharge of communications in Congress, told ANI.

The reform in the Goods and Services Tax structure, which was approved during the 56th meeting of the GST Council earlier this month, is set to come into effect from today. The current four-rate system will be replaced with a streamlined two-slab regime of 5% and 18%. A separate 40 per cent slab has been retained for luxury and sin goods.

This new framework is expected to ease compliance, reduce consumer prices, boost manufacturing, and support a wide range of industries, from agriculture to automobiles and from FMCG to renewable energy. It is intended to lower the cost of living, strengthen MSMEs, widen the tax base, and drive inclusive growth.

In the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and dairy sector, major brands like Amul and Mother Dairy have announced substantial price cuts, reflecting the full benefit of the GST reduction.

Items like milk, butter, ghee, paneer, cheese, ice cream, snacks, and frozen foods have been brought under the 5 per cent slab, due to which 100 g of Amul butter will now cost Rs 58 instead of Rs 62, and Ultra High Temperature milk (UHT) has dropped to Rs 75 per litre from Rs 77. Mother Dairy has also slashed prices on milkshakes, paneer, ghee, and frozen products. (ANI)