BJP State president Somu Veerraju demanded that the State government must issue a fresh advertisement containing facts about the sharing of revenues by the Centre with the States generated from the taxes levied on petrol and diesel, at the personal cost of Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy.
In a letter to Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, Mr. Veerraju said that the advertisement published in both English and Telugu newspapers on November 7 was a ‘direct assault on the Centre and the spirit of federalism.’
Public money was spent on publishing the advertisement which targeted the Centre and projected that it was not devolving the share of tax revenue (on petrol and diesel) to which the States were entitled, he said.
Mr. Veerraju questioned whether it was not true that the State government was collecting ₹29.40 per litre of petrol and ₹21.80 per litre of diesel in the form of VAT which went to the State exchequer.
He sought to know if the VAT had not been increased by the State by ₹8.50 on petrol and ₹5.50 on diesel. “The State government’s claim that the VAT remained the same in percentage terms is a move to fool the people,” alleged Mr. Veerraju.
He further said that the advertisement made a false claim that the revenue shared with the States by the Centre from the total collected by it was just 5.80% of the gross revenue of ₹19,475 crore (which is actually ₹2,21,056 crore).
Capital, road cess
“A wrong statement was made to cover up the looting of people in the form of high VAT—an additional ₹4 per litre on petrol and diesel in the name of capital construction and a cess of ₹1 for laying of roads. However, no investment in the construction of the capital or improvement of roads can be seen,” he said.
Mr. Veerraju said that the Chief Minister must explain what prompted his government to issue such a ‘misleading advertisement’.
