Hamirpur: Former Union Minister and Hamirpur MP Anurag Singh Thakur launched a sharp attack on the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh over the increase in cess on petrol and diesel, alleging that the government was repeatedly burdening the common people through taxes, VAT and cess.
Anurag Singh Thakur said that Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi’s so-called ‘Khatakhat Model’ in Himachal Pradesh had now turned into a ‘Khatara Model’. He said the Congress government had been continuously looking for new ways to increase the financial burden on the people.
He said that within just two months of coming to power, the Congress government increased VAT, taking the VAT on diesel to Rs 10.40 per litre, followed by an additional cess of Rs 5. He said this was the fourth time that the government had attacked the pockets of the common people through fuel-related taxes, VAT or cess.
“Today, truck drivers, farmers, traders and ordinary consumers across Himachal Pradesh are bearing the burden of higher petrol and diesel prices, while the state government remains indifferent. On one hand, people are facing the burden of taxes and on the other, Himachal Pradesh is drowning in debt. The Congress government has become a government run on debt and taxes,” Anurag Thakur said.
He said the Congress government had already pushed Himachal Pradesh into a debt trap of more than Rs 1.10 lakh crore and was now imposing additional taxes, VAT and cess on the people. He questioned where the money collected through repeated increases was ultimately being spent and whether the additional burden was genuinely strengthening the state exchequer.
Anurag Thakur said any increase in taxes ultimately affects the common consumer. Higher petrol and diesel prices directly impact transportation, agriculture, freight costs and the prices of everyday commodities. He alleged that the Congress government had already collected thousands of crores from the people through fuel taxation and had now imposed another burden in the name of cess.
He said that instead of providing relief to the people, the Congress government was continuously finding new excuses to increase their financial burden. “This government has failed every section of Himachal Pradesh. Instead of improving governance and strengthening the state’s finances, it is making the people pay for its failures,” he said.