UP Traders Oppose VAT Decision

Traders in Uttar Pradesh are still not ready to accept the Mayawati government''s decision to implement the value-added tax (VAT) regime with many organisations staging protests on October 20. The opposition Samajwadi Party-backed Uttar Pradesh Udyog Vyapar Mandal led by the party''s Lok Sabha member Banwari Lal Kanchal staged a protest demonstration and burnt an effigy of the chief minister in Lucknow on October 20.

Its rival body led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) turned Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Sandeep Bansal also expressed resentment against the move. A BJP-backed traders'' organisation also staged demonstrations in Kanpur and has threatened to hold protests in other parts of the state as well. It was the virtually united opposition to the new tax regime that had compelled the Mayawati government repeatedly defer the issue. Eventually, under repeated pressure from the central government that had laid down a deadline for introduction of VAT across all states, the state cabinet did give a formal nod to it on October 19.