Rahul meets new 'GST'

Rahul Gandhi asked him how much did media company suffer because of GST, as it had allegedly wiped off 50% of incomes of most small businesses

There was much mirth at Congress president-elect Rahul Gandhi’s press conference in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, the last day of campaigning for the Gujarat Assembly polls, when a reporter identified himself as representing “GST”. Rahul Gandhi, who had already spoken at length about the ill-effects of the goods and services tax (GST) — or the “Gabbar Singh Tax” as he prefers to call it — on Gujarat’s small traders, business people and manufacturers, expressed surprise that a reporter would be representing “GST”. The reporter clarified that he represented “Gujarat Samachar Television”, or GSTV. In jest, Gandhi asked him how much did the media company suffer because of GST, as it had allegedly wiped off 50 per cent of the incomes of most small businesses. He added, he knew “the kind of pressure” that media is having to work under.