Congress leader Shashi Tharoor joined the Twitter fest over the recent hike in Goods and Services Tax (GST) after several users posted hilarious memes questioning the cost of ‘paneer butter masala’ dish. Netizens started a riot of memes over pre-packed food items including paneer, curd and masala that witnessed a GST rate hike from Monday.
Thiruvananthapuram MP Tharoor on Wednesday tweeted "I don't know who comes up with these brilliant WhatsApp forwards but this one skewers the folly of the GST as few jokes have!"
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Tharoor shared one meme that lists the GST rates of the items in the dish and poses a question about the total cost. "GST on Paneer: 5%, GST on Butter: 12%, GST on Masala: 5%," the meme read, while telling the users: "New Maths Question: Calculate the GST on Paneer Butter Masala."
Earlier, Tharoor had targeted the government over GST rate hike. Taking to Twitter, the Congress leader had said," This GST rate hike is breathtakingly irresponsible at a time of mounting economic difficulties for most Indians. The Aam Aadmi will bear the brunt of the burden even as inflation eats into his earnings. Does this government believe it can get away with anything?"
The 5 percent GST is now applicable on packaged daily use food items such as cereals, pulses, and flour. This has triggered concerns among paneer lovers, who were left wondering whether the cost of their favourite paneer butter masala dish will turn costlier.
The new GST rates are expected to add to the woes of common man as the essential food items become expensive. The rate were hiked for numerous items after the recommendations were taken up in the two-day 47th GST Council meeting in Chandigarh this month.
Opposition parties, including the Congress, have criticised the BJP-led government’s move and their leaders have been protesting against it stalling the proceedings of the Parliament which is currently in session.