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The Opposition United Democratic Front on Wednesday stormed out of the Assembly in protest after permission was denied for an adjournment motion on the government’s alleged failure in plugging tax leaks and claiming the State’s rightful share from the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) pool.
The Opposition said that the LDF government lacked the courage to discuss the matter in the House. The denial of permission could not be justified, Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan said. According to the Opposition, due to the government’s inept tax management Kerala has lost ₹25,000 crore from the IGST pool over the past five years.
Replies not given
Further, the Opposition alleged that Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal has not provided replies to 400 unstarred questions during the sixth, seventh and eighth sessions of the 15th Kerala Assembly. It also accused Mr. Balagopal of failing to table the report of the Expenditure Review Committee in the House.
Roji M. John of the Congress sought leave to introduce the adjournment motion. Speaker A.N. Shamseer reasoned that tax leakages were discussed during the general debate on the State Budget in the current session and as such, the motion could not be allowed.
Later, Mr. Satheesan told a press conference that the government had put pressure on the Speaker to deny permission for the adjournment motion. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was preventing him from adopting an impartial stand, Mr. Satheesan alleged. If States failed to claim their rightful IGST share from the pool, it would ultimately get divided among the States. Mr. Balagopal was yet to provide replies to more than 400 unstarred questions. The Finance Minister was trying to hide the reality about the State’s fiscal position, he alleged.
Balagopal’s take on issue
Mr. Balagopal, talking to reporters shortly afterwards, said the State government was not aware of the data on the State’s IGST share presented by the Opposition. In raising the matter, the Opposition was creating a smokescreen as it had run out of relevant issues, Mr. Balagopal said. However, he admitted that the IGST mechanism needed improvements, adding that State government officials were looking into it.
The Finance Minister accused the Opposition of turning a blind eye to the pertinent issue of the hike in the prices of domestic and commercial LPG cylinders.
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