Jaya rebuts charge of instigating traders

Chennai, Dec 23 (UNI) AIADMK General Secretary and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today joined issue with Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on Value Added Tax (VAT), coming into force from January 1, 2007.

Reacting to Mr Karunanidhi's charge that she was instigating traders to oppose the VAT system, Ms Jayalalithaa said that she need not instigate traders and the Chief Minister was well aware of this.

She said that in her December 19 statement on VAT, she had not uttered a single word attempting to instigate traders. But, the government, on the pretext of issuing a clarification, had accused her of instigating traders, she alleged.

During the previous AIADMK regime, her government had said in 2003 and 2005 that VAT would be implemented following assurances given by the Centre. However, the AIADMK government had decided against implementing VAT after realising it would cost the state exchequer a sum of Rs 5,000 crore and small traders would be hit, she said.

Pointing out that the Tamil Nadu Traders Federation had announced an agitation against VAT and she had nothing to do with it, Ms Jayalalithaa said the DMK Government, instead of allaying the fears of traders, was trying to blame her.

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