National News
Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge Slams Modi Govt For Delay In GST Reforms, Calls Simplification Long Overdue
New Delhi: Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday criticised the Modi government over the delay in implementing GST reforms, saying it was a “good thing” that the Centre has finally “woken up” after eight years, even as he asserted that the Opposition had consistently demanded the simplification of indirect taxes.
The GST Council has recently cleared sweeping changes in the tax regime, reducing the number of slabs and cutting rates on a wide range of essential goods and services.
Under the revised framework, two primary slabs of 5 per cent and 18 per cent will remain, along with a higher 40 per cent rate for sin goods. Goods earlier taxed at 12 per cent and 28 per cent will largely shift into the two main slabs, with the government claiming this will ease the burden on households.
Reacting to the move, Kharge took to X and posted, “For nearly a decade, the Indian National Congress has been demanding the simplification of GST. The Modi government turned ‘One Nation, One Tax’ into ‘One Nation, 9 Taxes.’ Which included Tax Slabs of 0 per cent, 5 per cent, 12 per cent, 18 per cent, 28 per cent and special rates of 0.25 per cent, 1.5 per cent, 3 per cent, and 6 per cent.”
He said the Congress had already proposed GST 2.0 with a “simple and rational” tax system in its 2019 and 2024 manifestos and had demanded simplification of GST compliances, which, he stated, had “severely affected” MSMEs and small businesses.
Kharge recalled that the idea of GST was first introduced by the Congress-UPA government in 2005, and when the GST Bill was presented in 2011 by then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, it was opposed by the BJP.
“When Modi Ji was the Chief Minister, he vehemently opposed GST,” he added.
Kharge accused the present government of hypocrisy, saying, “Today, the same BJP government celebrates record GST collections, as if collecting tax from the common people was some great achievement.”
He further claimed that “for the first time in the country’s history,” taxes were imposed on farmers.
“This Modi government had imposed GST on at least 36 items in the agricultural sector. Milk-curd, flour-grains, and even children’s pencils, books, oxygen, insurance, and hospital expenses — on everyday things like these, the Modi government has imposed GST tax. That’s why we named this BJP’s GST the ‘Gabbar Singh Tax’,” he said.
Kharge also stated that the burden of GST is disproportionately borne by ordinary citizens.
“Two-thirds of the total GST, i.e., 64 per cent, comes from the pockets of the poor and middle class, but only 3 per cent of GST is collected from billionaires, while the Corporate Tax rate has been reduced from 30 per cent to 22 per cent,” he professed.
Highlighting revenue trends, he asserted that in the last five years, there has been a 240 per cent rise in Income Tax collection and a 177 per cent increase in GST collection.
“It is a good thing that, even if 8 years late, the Modi government’s ‘Kumbhakarniya’ sleep regarding GST has finally broken, and they have spoken about Rate Rationalisation upon waking,” Kharge stated.
The Congress President also demanded that states be fully compensated for five years, taking 2024-25 as the base year, given the likelihood of reduced revenues due to lower tax rates.
“The complex Compliances of GST must also be eliminated; only then will MSMEs and small industries truly benefit,” he said.
National News
Congress social media chief faces BJP heat over ‘false’ claims on flag hoisting during I-Day celebrations

New Delhi, Aug 16: Congress social media chairperson and Working Committee member Supriya Shrinate is in the eye of storm over circulation of two old videos pertaining to 80th Independence Day celebrations while alleging that the BJP leaders hoisted party flags instead of the Tricolour on the occassion.
The BJP quickly fact-checked the claims, stating that neither of the videos were related to Independence Day events.
Shrinate had claimed that one of the videos was from Chhattisgarh, while the other was from West Bengal. In the first instance, she shared a video purportedly showing BJP workers raising the party flag instead of the national flag at Swami Vivekanand Mangal Bhavan in Kurud, located in Dhamtari district of Chhattisgarh.
“For 53 years, their ancestors boycotted the Tricolour — even today, they never tire of insulting the national flag,” the Congress leader wrote in a post on X while sharing the video.
Following the post, the BJP filed an FIR against Shrinate over the allegation and accused her of using an old video and presenting it as footage from the Independence Day celebrations.
Former Chhattisgarh Minister and senior BJP leader Ajay Chandrakar strongly criticised Shrinate and said, “The Independence Day program is of national importance. It is celebrated in governmental and personal capacities both in the country and abroad. The Congress Party has used the national festival as a medium to defame the BJP.”
“The BJP organisation of Dhamtari district has, by filing an FIR, demanded action against Mallikarjun Kharge, Jairam Ramesh, Supriya Shrinate, and Pawan Khera as well. Immediate action should be taken on this,” he added.
Chandrakar himself hoisted the national flag at the official district-level Independence Day ceremony in Dhamtari. Subsequent clarifications established that the video shared by Shrinate was from a BJP event held at the same venue in March this year, during which the party flag had been raised.
Shrinate also shared another video while making a similar allegation. In her post, she claimed that West Bengal Labour and Transport Minister Arjun Singh had raised a BJP flag instead of the Tricolour and described him as a “galeech deshdrohi” (a wretched traitor).
However, the second video was also found to be old and unrelated to the Independence Day celebrations.
Responding to Shrinate’s allegation, Singh said, “This video is not from the Independence Day programme. The video is from the inauguration of my office in Barrackpore, which took place on 6th July, 2026, on the birth anniversary of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee Ji.”
“The parties and some individuals spreading such fake narrative and propaganda should have verified the facts before circulating it and should have corrected their mistake. It is such disgraceful action, highly condemnable. I am going to take legal action against the parties and persons for deliberately spreading propaganda against me,” he added.
Congress is yet to respond to these remarks.
Crime
Trinamool-linked woman panchayat chief among 3 arrested in Bengal Cong leader murder case (Lead)

Kolkata, Aug 16: The police on Sunday arrested three persons, including one Trinamool Congress village panchayat chief, in connection with the murder of a Congress leader, Anisur Rahman, and his 24-year-old son Abu Sufian at Bethuadahari under Nakashipara Police Station in West Bengal’s Nadia district.
The incident had happened late Saturday night. Fatema Bibi, the head of Haranagar village panchayat in Nadia district, was one of the three persons arrested here. Her husband, Jubbar Sheikh, an influential Trinamool leader in the area, has been in judicial custody, and the local Congress leadership accused him of being the mastermind behind the murders of Anisur Rahman and Abu Sufian.
In addition, two of Fatema’s associates, namely Ali Mandal and Mithun Sheikh, have also been arrested. They have already been produced in the court after a medical examination in the morning. The police have sought custody for three of them.
It is learnt that Anisur Rahman and Abu Sufian were returning home in a four-wheeler on Saturday night. At that time, the miscreants blocked their road and allegedly fired several rounds of bullets. The car was forcibly stopped, and the father and son were beaten with sharp weapons. According to sources, both died on the spot due to excessive bleeding.
After receiving information about this incident, the police from the Nakashipara police station reached the spot.
The Congress leadership in the Nadia district has claimed that the country’s oldest national party was fast occupying the principal opposition space in the district after the landslide defeat of the previous ruling party, Trinamool Congress, in the recently concluded Assembly polls.
“Anisur Rahman and his son were playing the key role in regaining our party’s space as the principal opposition force in the state. That is exactly why the father and the son became an eyesore for the local Trinamool Congress leadership, especially Fatema Bibi and his currently jailed husband, who had always been involved with all sorts of notorious and anti-social activities in the district. But no one expected that the sequence of events would take such a nasty turn. It was not just a simple murder. The assassin rather wanted to leave a message through the ghastly manner in which the father and his son were killed,” said a local Congress leader.
West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee was observing a ‘black day’ throughout the state as a mark of protest against the assassination. Both the current and former state Congress presidents, Suvankar Sarkar and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, have demanded a speedy probe in the matter and the strictest punishment for those involved in the murder.
Crime
MCD sanitation worker stabbed to death in Delhi Kalyanpuri; accused at large

New Delhi, Aug 16: A sanitation worker employed by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was stabbed to death while on duty in Delhi’s Kalyanpuri area on Sunday morning.
CCTV footage reportedly shows the accused attacking the sanitation worker with a knife. A Delhi Police team is currently examining the footage and other evidence to trace the assailant.
The deceased has been identified as 24-year-old Anil Kumar, an MCD sanitation worker. According to preliminary information, Anil was performing his duties in Kalyanpuri around 7 a.m. on Sunday when he was attacked with a knife, officials said.
The accused fled the scene after the incident.
Upon receiving the information, the police arrived at the scene and initiated an investigation. Officials said that multiple teams have been formed to apprehend the accused using the CCTV footage.
Following the incident, BJP Trilokpuri MLA Ravi Kant visited the site and condoled the death of the worker.
Speaking to media , he described it as a “deeply tragic” event. “While the rest of Delhi sleeps, it is these workers who perform the task of waking the city up. We stand in solidarity with the victim’s family,” he said.
The BJP MLA stated that the perpetrator has been identified and that strict action will be taken against him.
Kant further said, “I have seen the CCTV footage. Anil was doing his job when the accused suddenly approached and attacked him.”
Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Kondli MLA Kuldeep Kumar spoke to media, stating, “A sanitation worker was brazenly murdered in Kalyanpuri. Has Kalyanpuri become the crime capital? Murders are taking place all over Delhi.”
“Think about the plight of the family of a sanitation worker who performs his job. When he collects garbage, it is not because he enjoys the work; due to financial circumstances and the inability to find other employment, he is compelled to collect garbage. He has been murdered,” Kumar said.
He further demanded a police encounter of the accused to “set a precedent and ensure no one else commits such a crime”.
The AAP MLA also demanded that the victim’s family be provided with compensation and that a family member be given a job.
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