Congress Accuses Amit Shah of Fear-Mongering Over Stock Market Comments
New Delhi: The Congress on Sunday accused Union home minister Amit Shah of “fear-mongering” over his recent stock market comment. Mr Shah had in an interview with a TV channel said the stock market shouldn’t be linked with the ongoing elections, but that a stable government does help it to perform better. He also suggested the market will shoot up after June 4 as a result of the BJP and its allies sweeping the Lok Sabha elections.
In a statement, AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said there was no basis for the “fear-mongering incited by the outgoing home minister about the INDIA government in the financial markets”. The record of the Congress Party in providing strong and inclusive economic growth speaks for itself, he said. “It is a matter of record that economic growth and investment were much higher under Dr Manmohan Singh than under the Narendra Modi government. Private investment and the share of manufacturing as a percentage were much greater under Dr Singh than in the past decade,” he said.
In this context, the most important contribution of the INDIA government will be to “remove the current environment of distrust and fear, and create a healthy ecosystem where private enterprises, regulatory authorities, the tax authorities and government will work in a spirit of mutual cooperation and respect, as we wrote in our Nyay Patra manifesto", he said.
“We also stated ‘regulatory oversight will be based on clearly enunciated laws and rules that will be applied fairly and without discrimination’,” the AICC general secretary in-charge of communications said.
“Our manifesto also promises to implement a clear, transparent and predictable tax regime. We will replace the current GST with a GST 2.0 that will be a single, moderate rate (with a few exceptions). We will enact a Direct Taxes Code and maintain stable personal income tax rates throughout the next five years,” Mr Ramesh said.
“We will eliminate the ‘Angel Tax’ and all other exploitative tax schemes that inhibit investment in new micro, small companies and innovative start-ups,” he said. Mr Ramesh further said that the Congress has made important announcements in its manifesto to deal with the Modi government’s poor record on price rise, jobs and stagnant wages and its “utter failure” on the demand side of the economy.
“We will implement all of these within established principles of fiscal responsibility. We remind market participants that Dr Singh’s government ended its tenure with a fiscal deficit of 4.5 per cent of GDP (2013-14), much below the 5.8 per cent fiscal deficit in the Modi government’s final year (2023-24)," he said.
Tagging Mr Ramesh's statement and post on X, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said: “Hear hear! As a member of the @incIndia Manifesto Committee I am proud to confirm our party’s commitment to economic growth with social justice, an end to tax terrorism that is driving wealth creators away from India, and a commitment to predictable and transparent economic and fiscal policies.”
