Lok Sabha on Saturday passed amendments in the Taxation Laws with heated debate on the PM Cares Fund, leading to mudslinging between the Congress and the BJP. The Taxation amendments were aimed to give changes in the tax filing dates including GST filings due to Covid-19 pandemic. It also included the tax concessions to the PM Cares Fund.
The face-off started with Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur resuming his Friday’s controversial speech attacking the fund flow to Rajiv Gandhi Foundation from PMNRF, where Congress President Sonia Gandhi is also a Trustee.
Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi countered it charging the Government with accepting money from Chinese companies and challenged it to give details of the donors. Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury objected to Thakur’s allegations against Sonia Gandhi, and the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and Thakur took potshots on Chowdhury for calling him “Himachal ke Chokra (boy).”
“You have the habit of calling names and later apologise. Yesterday you called me Chokra and I took credit for it. I come from Himachal and i am proud of being called as Chokra,” said Thakur.
Chowdhury said he meant Balak (small boy). “You yesterday adopted an aggressive line. You are just a Balak and should not do that by commenting on great people like Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru,” he said.
Replying to the debate, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also took objection to Chowdhury ridiculing Thakur. “He is young. But he is fourth time MP. Adhir ji, you are leader of the Opposition party and should not use such words.”
The Finance Minister also objected to opposition terming the PM Cares Fund as “non-transparent”.