After Sidhus, Joshi takes on govt

Friday, 25/07/2014

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2014/20140725/punjab.htm#1

Amritsar : After the Sidhu couple, it seems Local Bodies Minister Anil Joshi is on collision course with the state government as he today threatened to lead a traders' protest against the state government over the issue of advance tax on stocks.

An irate Joshi didn't stop here and went on to serve the ultimatum to the government to withdraw the advance tax by Monday evening.

After meeting a delegation of the traders at his camp office here, Joshi told them not to stage any protest till Monday while assuring them his full support on the issue. He even stated that the public had made him a minister and if he had to sacrifice his post, "he would not hesitate to do so for the people's cause".

Joshi accused the officials of Excise and Taxation Department of misguiding the government on the issue. He said, "It is unjustified to collect tax on the stocks while it is still lying in the shops and the traders have not sold any of it."

Taking a stiff stand against his own government, he exhorted the traders not to deposit any advance tax. He stated that while the government was yet to make tax refunds of crores, it was resorting to pressure tactics to recover further taxes from the traders.

The BJP minister said he had earlier apprised Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal of the traders' demand and the government had even assured to withdraw the tax. He stated that "corrupt department officials were harassing the traders for their vested interests". He threatened that the traders would make public the names of the "corrupt" officials if they had to stage protest on Tuesday.

Anil Mehra, a leading trader, said the government had implemented advance tax without even thinking whether it was feasible or not. He said it was practically not possible for the trading community to pay advance tax. "How can we pay taxes on goods even before selling them," he wondered. He said there was widespread resentment among the traders as their repeated pleas to withdraw advance tax had fallen on deaf ears. He also said that no other state in the country had introduced advance tax.

Incidentally, Joshi is not the first BJP leader from Amritsar to have raised his voice against the state government. It was only last year that the then BJP MP from Amritsar Navjot Singh Sidhu had locked horns with the state government, particularly the Badals, whom he had accused of scuttling his pet projects for the holy city.

He had also threatened to stage a dharna against the government, though he was later pacified. His wife Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu too had come out against the Akalis for "boycotting" her in her Assembly constituency. A few days back too, Dr Sidhu and senior BJP leader Laxmi Kanta Chawla had vent their ire against the government over "indiscriminate chopping of trees" in Amritsar.