Chavan not to withdraw LBT

Supreme Court refuses to stay LBT implementation

Undeterred by the intense pressure from a section of his own party members, co-partner Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), opposition parties, and traders, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has refused to withdraw the local body tax (LBT), which has been introduced as an alternate to the octroi duty and account-based levy.

Read: What is LBT

Chavan, incidentally, has the tacit support of Congress party president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi. He has been fully backed by the state Congress party unit, barring a representation made by party MPs to Sonia Gandhi to review the LBT’s implementation

Chavan received a major boost on Friday when the Supreme Court refused to stay the LBT implementation in 26 civic bodies barring Mumbai and Nashik municipal corporations. Hearing a petition filed by traders from Pune, the apex court referred the matter to the Bombay High Court directing it to decide the matter in four months.

State Congress chief Manikrao Thakre denied any move from within the party to target Chavan. “The Congress party is strongly supporting Chavan on the state government’s decision to introduce LBT. The CM has already clarified that the new levy will not pave way for inspector raj and it will curb any attempt to pay taxes.”

On the other hand, NCP state chief Madhukar Pichad and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar has written a letter demanding a coordination committee meeting be convened soon to discuss LBT and its impact. Curiously, NCP has supported the implementation of LBT both in the Cabinet and also in the state legislature. However, the party, which is mired in corruption charges, is keen to isolate Chavan.

Similarly, the Shiv Sena, BJP and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena have opposed the LBT.