BJP reaching out to traders to minimize GST fallout

Bahraich (UP), Feb 23 (IANS) As Uttar Pradesh is about to enter the fifth phase of polling on February 27, the BJP is reaching out to each and every trader to minimize any fallout due to the GST issue. The party’s traders wing is working day and night to reach out to the traditional voters of the BJP who are said to be miffed due to GST.

Aggrawal, a prominent trader in the area and goes by this name only, says that the GST has many flaws but the government is not willing to accept it as there are disparities in the slabs which is tough to implement. Secondly, there is a liability on purchaser for GST submission of the manufacturer until and unless the manufacturer submits its GST. The retailer can’t claim it and there is a time limit for the claim. The online portal has no corrective step if any figure is wrongly entered. It can only be corrected in the annual report and the discretion is with the GST officer whether to accept or refuse.

However, the BJP says that the traders’ allegiance is always to the BJP. “We are trying to pacify those who are upset,” said Rajeev Rastogi co-convener, traders cell of Awadh region of the BJP and added, “a trader is a nationalist and has been contributing to nation building. They know that without taxes no nation can move forward when the challenges are international.”

“We are working on it on the direction of the party as traders are the party’s backbone,” he said.

As per rough estimates, the traders, mostly from Vaishya community, constitute around 10 to 12 per cent of voters in each assembly constituency.

The party has organised about 50 meetings since the announcement of polls, from state to the assembly level in the past two months to iron out the differences, a party leader said.

Three phases of elections are still left in Uttar Pradesh including Awadh, Poorvanchal and the Varanasi region where the party hopes to fill the gap of western UP where the party is said to have not fared well in the first two phases.

–IANS

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