In a biting political jab, Congress leader Priyank Kharge mocked Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s launch of the GST Bachat Utsav, sarcastically claiming that the “Gabbar Singh Tax” has successfully reduced robberies—because the government itself has taken over the role.
“Gabbar Singh has reduced the number of robberies. That’s why we now have a GST savings festival,” Kharge said, referencing the popular Bollywood villain to criticize the government’s tax policy.
The remark comes amid widespread opposition backlash to Modi’s televised address announcing next-generation GST reforms, which include rate reductions and procedural simplifications. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also called the festival a “band-aid on deep wounds” inflicted by years of flawed GST implementation.
Opposition leaders argue that the GST regime—with nine tax slabs, levies on essentials like pulses, books, and tractors, and burdensome compliance—has disproportionately hurt the middle class and small businesses.
Kharge’s comment plays on the long-standing Congress narrative that the GST, as implemented by the BJP, is less a reform and more a “Growth Suppressing Tax”.