Kozhikode | KPCC president K Sudhakaran’s call for no additional tax in the state budget has created confusion in the Congress.
Opposition Leader VD Satheesan’s response was that he was not aware of K Sudhakaran’s tax boycott call. The constituent parties of the UDF, including the Muslim League, are not aware of such a decision.
It is clear from the opposition leader’s response that K Sudhakaran announced such a decision without consultation.
K Sudhakaran stated that Pinarayi, who was the CPM secretary during the UDF government, had said that the party workers would not pay extra tax and he is also making this call following his footsteps.
Congress asks people not to pay extra tax. Sudhakaran’s appeal was that the Congress will protect it if action is taken. The government implemented the tax hike stubbornly. The state collapsed before the Chief Minister’s stubbornness. The Chief Minister has shown the inflexibility of not deducting even a single rupee. This dictator has a history of kneeling before popular struggles. Local bodies have been told to collect a thousand crores. It will again affect the common man. The Chief Minister is like the queen who asked to eat cake where there is no bread. Congress is not a party that goes on strike after hearing media reports. He also demanded that the Chief Minister should call an all-party meeting on tax hike.
The question is whether the party workers will accept the KPCC president’s call not to pay taxes. It is to be seen how the workers will accept the call that the Congress will protect them if action is taken on account of non-payment of taxes.
The Kerala Revenue Recovery Act, 1968 and the Rules thereunder empower the Government to treat the amount due to the Government in respect of taxes or other items as arrears and recover them with interest from the date of default.
The question is what will be the future of K Sudhakaran’s call for tax boycott without any consultation within the party or front.