Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on August 1, 2022 asserted that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) levies on food items such as curd, lassi and wheat would not burden poor households, and took on States and the Opposition parties for seeking to suggest that the taxes were driven by the Narendra Modi administration when it was a decision taken by the GST Council with all States on board.
Replying to the debate on price rise in the Lok Sabha, Ms. Sitharaman remarked that members’ discussion dwelled on the political angles of price rise rather than actual data-driven concerns so her response would also be slightly political.
Congress members walked out mid-way through the Minister’s reply saying it had no solutions to offer, with MPs from the DMK following suit later while Ms. Sitharaman had switched to Tamil to respond to the issues they had raised.
