Rahul Gandhi joined protesting jewellers at Delhi's Jantar Mantar
Highlights
- Not excise duty but assassination attempt against jewellers: Rahul Gandhi
- BJP MP Varun Gandhi takes delegation to meet MoS, Finance Jayant Sinha
- Jewellers are protesting the 1% excise duty on gold and diamond jewellery
The Gandhi versus Gandhi rivalry played out today at a protest that started a month ago over a tax on gold and diamond jewellery.
As Rahul Gandhi joined the jewellers' protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, his cousin Varun Gandhi, a lawmaker of the ruling BJP, took a delegation to meet Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha.
"This is not excise duty, this is an assassination attempt against you," Rahul Gandhi said, addressing the protesters.
"Around 5-10 industrialists are standing behind the 'babbar sher' (lion) and small businessmen are being throttled," the Congress vice president added, referring to the mascot of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' scheme.
Jewellers across the country have demanded a rollback of one per cent excise duty on gold and diamond jewellery, reintroduced after four years in this year's budget. For over a month, many have kept their shops closed in cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.
The government imposed an excise duty in 2012 but was forced to withdraw it after jewellers went on a strike.
Jewellery manufacturers are likely to meet PM Modi to demand a rollback, which, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley recently indicated, would be difficult.
"If luxury items are kept out, then it will be very difficult to keep the GST (Goods and Services Tax) rate between 17 percent and 18 percent," Mr Jaitley said.
It has been over a year since Rahul Gandhi and Varun Gandhi have championed the same cause.
Last year, they exchanged digs over the cause of farmers.
Rahul and Varun are the sons of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's sons Rajiv Gandhi, assassinated in 1991, and Sanjay Gandhi, who died in an air crash in 1980.