TFP Bureau, Raipur, June 7, 2025: State Congress President Deepak Baij has sharply criticized the BJP government in Chhattisgarh, accusing it of fostering an atmosphere of fear and intimidation among the state’s traders under the guise of GST collection. Baij alleged that since the BJP came to power, businessmen are being treated like criminals rather than contributors to the state’s revenue, with heavy-handed tax enforcement practices causing widespread distress.
Highlighting protests by traders in several cities including Ambikapur, Baij condemned the government’s approach of conducting excessive raids, imposing unfair penalties and interest, and using oppressive tactics to extract GST revenue. “Nowhere else in the country is GST collection carried out with such brutality as in Chhattisgarh under the BJP,” he said, accusing the government of administrative terror and repression targeting the business community.
Baij further accused the BJP of an anti-people agenda that pushes up prices of essential goods to increase tax revenue, worsening the economic plight of common citizens. He pointed out rising unemployment, falling incomes, and reduced purchasing power since the BJP assumed office. “The government harasses traders to boost GST collection, and then misleadingly claims it as an achievement, while the public suffers,” he added.
On industrial policy, Baij lamented that poor governance has stifled new investments and forced many existing industries to shut down. He noted that despite declining industrial output, GST revenue has surged, indicating that excessive taxes and punitive measures are crippling businesses. The quadrupling of electricity rates for industries under the BJP government has further devastated agriculture and forest-based industries like sponge iron, rolling mills, and rice mills, resulting in massive job losses and economic decline.
Baij concluded by demanding the BJP government apologize to the people for its oppressive taxation policies that are undermining businesses and hurting the common man.
