TMC protests taxation on Durga Puja committees

| | Kolkata
  • 0

TMC protests taxation on Durga Puja committees

Wednesday, 14 August 2019 | Saugar Sengupta | Kolkata

The ruling Trinamool Congress on Tuesday staged an eight-hour sit-in protest against the Central Government’s decision to tax Kolkata Durga Puja committees. Within days of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee condemning the Centre for getting the I-T Department to target Durga Puja organisers so as to browbeat them into joining the BJP, the TMC’s women’s wing Banga Janani Brigade started a dharna demanding withdrawal of tax notices sent to the Puja organisers.

The Income Tax Department officials however said there had been no such initiative this year on their behalf. Department sources said they had only “called the Puja organizers to instruct them on ways of deducting taxes at sources while clearing the dues of contractors and event managers who construct puja pandals and organize the events.

Senior TMC MP Kakoli Ghoshdastidar who led the sit-in “we have been instructed by our leader Mamata Banerjee to protest the BJP-led Central Government’s move to disturb and malign the Durga Pujas which are an inalienable part of our culture and heritage. We will not allow them to disturb the festivities.”

Other senior leaders including State Minister Chandrima Bhattacharjee and Mayor Firhad Hakim were also present in the dharna. The Chief Minister had earlier slammed the Centre for arm-twisting the Durga Puja organizers so as to force them into switching sides.

“There is no political division among the Puja organisers. The entire locality takes part in it. But the BJP-led Centre is trying to hijack these Puja committees for electoral purpose,” Banerjee whose party was once accused by the Congress of the same sin said. She said that the BJP government should have taken a cue from the Bengal Government which had earlier withdrawn tax from the Ganga Sagar Mela.

She appealed to all the “people who love Bangla” to join the protest dharna at Raja Subodh Mullick Square in north Kolkata.

On Monday, BJP criticised the TMC's decision to stage the demonstration, accusing a section of ruling TMC leaders of laundering money allegedly looted in chit fund scams through the puja committees.

"When the elections come, they (BJP) do Hindu-Muslim for narrow political gains. They forget that festivals are festivals which belong to all,” she wondered why the Puja committees should be taxed where the political parties get exemption from taxation.

Countering her charges State BJP president Dilip Ghosh said the many TMC leaders were getting nervous because “their involvement in chit fund scam will get exposed once the Puja committees place their accounts because most of these Puja committees are controlled by Trinamool leaders.”

He said “they will have to account for their misdeeds. They may sit on roads, descend on streets or in water but they will have to explain the inflow and outflow of funds because they are dealing with public money. It is common knowledge that chit fund have often been routed through Puja committees.

Sunday Edition

CAA PASSPORT TO FREEDOM

24 March 2024 | Kumar Chellappan | Agenda

CHENNAI EXPRESS IN GURUGRAM

24 March 2024 | Pawan Soni | Agenda

The Way of Bengal

24 March 2024 | Shobori Ganguli | Agenda

The Pizza Philosopher

24 March 2024 | Shobori Ganguli | Agenda

Astroturf | Lord Shiva calls for all-inclusiveness

24 March 2024 | Bharat Bhushan Padmadeo | Agenda

Interconnected narrative l Forest conservation l Agriculture l Food security

24 March 2024 | BKP Sinha/ Arvind K jha | Agenda