Congress forced BJP govt to withdraw GST on ‘Gangajal’

New Delhi. The Congress today said that the party forced the Bharatiya Janata Party government at the centre to withdraw the GST it had imposed on the holy ‘Gangajal’. 

The party also blasted the claims of the BJP government and the party spokespersons for claiming that there was no GST imposed on the ‘Gangajal’.

Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters here today, the party spokesperson and the Chairperson of the Social and Digital Platform in Media Department, Ms Supriya Shrinate said that it was the Congress Party which had strongly resisted the imposition of 18 percent GST on ‘Gangajal’ by the central government. 

She said, while the party forced the government to make corrections, it was strange that the government and the BJP were now falsely claiming that there no GST was imposed on ‘Gangajal’ at the first instance.

Ms Shrinate presented documented evidence and referred to orders of August 8 and October 3 which clearly prove that the centre had imposed 18 percent GST on ‘Gangajal’. She also produced the tweets of the India Post, which sells Gangajal through post offices across the country, where 18 percent GST is clearly mentioned.

Proving her point that the government had originally imposed the GST on ‘Gangajal’ and withdrawn it later after pressure from the Congress, she referred to the order of October 12, which said that the orders dated August 8 and October 3 be considered as withdrawn. 

She pointed out, all the senior party leaders including the Congress president had strongly opposed the GST on ‘Gangajal’, which is used in every Hindu family in every religious ritual.

The Congress spokesperson said that the central government had started to provide holy ‘Gangajal’ through the post offices across the country. She said, originally a 250 ml bottle would cost Rs 30, but after the imposition of 18 percent GST it was increased to Rs 35.

Now, after the Congress forced the government to withdraw the GST on the ‘Gangajal’, it is again selling for Rs 30 per 250 ml bottle.