Panneerselvam slams DMK's opposition to bring petroleum products under GST, reminds it of its earlier stand

Chennai: The AIADMK in Tamil Nadu on Sunday questioned the DMK government’s opposition to bring petroleum products under the Goods and Services Tax (GST), saying it was contrary to the ruling party’s persistent demands for covering fuel under the GST ambit earlier when it was in the opposition.

Chief Minister M K Stalin, as Leader of Opposition in the past, had often stressed bringing petrol and diesel under GST, saying it will enable in reduction of the fuel prices, AIADMK Coordinator O Panneerselvam said.

However, the government had opposed any move to bring petrol and diesel under the tax ambit in the latest GST Council meeting on Friday, saying it was a means of key tax revenue for the states, he pointed out.

“DMK is known for taking one stand while in the opposition and another when in power, in issues like regional autonomy, NEET cancellation, and inter-state river disputes,” the former chief minister said in a party statement.

Explaining in detail DMK’s earlier demand for bringing petroleum products under the GST and its Finance Minister P T Palanivel Thiaga Rajan now opposing any such move, he said there was an “apprehension” among the public that the ruling party’s earlier stand was only a “desperate attempt to capture power.”

“Therefore, Chief Minister M K Stain should intervene in the matter immediately and in order to lessen the burden on the people, take steps to bring petroleum products under GST and establish DMK”s pre-election stand,” he urged.

This will also help in “total” fulfilling of DMK”s poll-time promise of reducing the rates of petrol and diesel by Rs 5 and Rs 3, respectively, he added.

The DMK government had last month announced a cut of Rs 3 per liter in petrol rates.

Tamil Nadu on Friday opposed the idea of bringing fuels under the goods and services tax (GST) by saying the petrol and diesel remain one of the last vestiges of a state’s right to manage its own revenue.

The GST Council, chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday had decided to continue to keep petrol and diesel out of the uniform national tax regime, besides taking a number of other tax-related decisions.