Punjab Cong takes govt to task for not reducing sale tax

Chandigarh, Jun 7 (UNI) The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) today alleged that the SAD-BJP government in Punjab had failed to heed to the directive of BJP chief Rajnath Singh to reduce the sale tax on petrol, diesel and LPG cylinders.

"It is a strange paradox that in all matters the SAD, a constituent of the NDA, follows the political guidelines of its alliance partner, but it fails to honour Mr Rajnath Singh's directive to all BJP ruled states to reduce the sale tax", PPCC chief spokesman Bir Devinder Singh said in a statement here.

It is pertinent to mention here that all Congress ruled states have reduced sale tax on petrol, diesel and LPG cylinders as directed by Congress President Sonia Gandhi, thereby giving substantial relief to the consumers, the statement pointed out.

The current public interest demands that the SAD-BJP government should immediately fall in line with the logical public voice and provide substantial relief to the people of Punjab particularly to the farmers by immediately reducing the sale tax on petrol and diesel, Mr Singh added.

Reacting to the PPCC statement, Member of Parliament and SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal criticised the Centre for asking the states to bear the brunt of its disastrous economic policies and said that the moves in this direction were "an extreme example of the government trying to pass the buck for its gross failures on the economic front to the state governments." MORE UNI HS DB 1747