Traders condemn ‘divide and rule’ policy, will continue to protest till LBT is abolished
By EB Bureau
Wednesday, August 14, 2013: Traders have termed the deferring of local body tax (LBT) imposition in Mumbai by chief minister Prithviraj Chavan a political strategy, in view of the general elections, which will be followed by the state assembly polls in 2014. The LBT, which was to replace octroi, was supposed to be imposed in Mumbai on October 1, this year. It has already been rolled out in about 20 corporations across Maharashtra.
However, after months of agitation, Mumbai traders heaved a sigh of relief when the state government had announced that it would not introduce the LBT in Mumbai from October 1. Earlier, on July 15, traders had called for a Maharashtra bandh, and planned to raise the issue during the monsoon session of the Maharashtra state legislative assembly through the opposition leaders.
“We spoke to about 200 MLAs of both BJP and Shiv Sena, and requested them to raise this issue in the assembly. While LBT implementation continues in other cities in Maharashtra like Pune, Nashik and Aurangabad, for Mumbai it has been kept on hold,” informs Mitesh Mody, action committee member, Federation of Associations of Maharashtra (FAM) and committee member, All India Radio and Electronics Association, west zone (AIREA WZ).
Traders believe that at least till the state assembly elections are over in 2014, LBT will not be imposed in Mumbai or in any of the other corporations where it is yet to be implemented.
Mitesh Mody said that FAM will continue its protests till LBT is abolished across the state. While FAM welcomed the deferment of LBT in Mumbai, it condemned the ‘divide and rule’ policy that will create a rift between traders of different cities in the state as LBT has been already imposed in about 20 corporations. “We are not agitating only for Mumbai traders but for all the traders across the state,” he adds.
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