It is election time in Telangana and every political party is making promises left, right and centre to woo the electorate, without bothering to find out whether these promises are implementable or not.
While the Congress party is promising to waive Rs 2 lakh loans of farmers at one go, besides waiving interest on crop loans and many other such freebies, the TRS is breaking its head as to what new promises it has to make to appease the voters.
Interestingly, Bharatiya Janata Party which has little stakes in coming to power in Telangana, has come out with a strange but attractive promise: remove value added tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel completely.
“The VAT on fuel will be made zero, if the BJP is voted to power in Telangana,” BJP manifesto committee chairman N V S S Prabhakar said speaking to a popular news portal.
At present, the state government is charging a VAT of 32% on petrol and 27% on diesel.
“The present VAT being charged in Telangana is very high, so we have decided to write off the VAT totally. Already our Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has asked all states to reduce VAT on fuel. We took this decision, keeping his plea in mind,” said the BJP leader.
When asked if reducing VAT on fuel in the state was practical, Prabhakar replied, “When people in other states can get fuel for cheaper rates why should people in Telangana alone suffer? We will mobilise state treasury to find other revenue generation sources, human resources, natural and some other development resources. There are other options we can explore.”
The BJP, however, will not dare impose ban on liquor.
“We will not ban alcohol in the state, we will only regulate it. All liquor and wine shops will work only between 10 am to 6 pm, and work only five days a week. We don't want the excise department to be viewed solely as a revenue-generating entity,” said Prabhakar.