BJP legislator Vijender Gupta tears copy of VAT Bill passed in the Delhi Assembly today
A bill that will allow the Delhi cabinet to raise Value Added Tax (VAT) on commodities like fuel, liquor, tobacco and soft drinks by upto 30% was passed in the assembly today amid protests by the opposition BJP members.
Sources in the government say VAT on goods like tobacco and liquor could increase in the coming days.
BJP lawmaker Vijender Gupta tore copies of the bill into bits and walked out with his two party men, saying the proposed changes in the law would allow the AAP government to raise the price of fuel and other items.
"If he can't understand the bill, then what can I do? There was a discussion after the amendment bill was introduced," said Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.
In his speech later in the evening, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal took a dig at Mr Gupta with a "personal experience," that stole the thunder from the BJP protest.
"The day the budget was tabled... Vijendar Gupta-ji came to me and said, 'It is a fabulous budget'," the Chief Minister said. As to why he did not say so to the media, Mr Gupta's reply was, "We have political compulsions," Mr Kejriwal reported. The House burst out laughing.
The government says the bill will allow it to impose VAT at "flexible rates" instead of a flat 20 per cent slab for some goods, but the tax rate has to be between 12.5 and 30 per cent.
BJP lawmakers accused the government of "fooling the people of Delhi" as the new measure would enable them to raise fuel prices, which would push up inflation.
Responding to the BJP's objections, Mr Sisodia said Delhi's cap on VAT is far lower than that of other states like Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Punjab.
"We wanted a healthy discussion. But the bill being passed was without consensus and on top of that it was against the public," said Vijender Gupta.
Another BJP lawmaker, OP Sharma, earlier broke a mic in the house alleging that it had been turned off to silence the opposition. AAP members asked him to apologise for damaging government property.