Diesel, petrol trigger AIADMK-BJP slugfest

Echoing Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who blamed the State governments for refusing to bring fuel under the ambit of GST, State BJP president Tamilisai Soundararajan also criticised the Tamil Nadu government for not reducing VAT. 

According to Tamilisai, state government gets 45 percent share and state government gets 25 percentage in fuel price.

However, the AIADMK has opposed both the arguments put forth by the BJP. Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar said the Centre is collecting Rs 16 per litre as central excise duty and if they reduce the tax by 50 percentage the petrol price would come down drastically.

Jayakumar also said that Tamil Nadu cannot accept fuel being brought under GST. 

“There are limited resources for the State government and if fuel is brought under GST the tax revenue for the State would be affected. Under such scenario, we will be forced to depend on the Centre for implementing every scheme,” he said.

Senior AIADMK leader and Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai also expressed his opposition for bringing fuel under GST, stating that the move would affect the resources of the State.