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BJP Tamil Nadu chief K. Annamalai on Friday issued an apology as the party faced criticism from the opposition after the state unit of the saffron party released a video on social media showing the owner of the vegetarian restaurant chain Sree Annapoorna seeking forgiveness from Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during a private interaction.
Annamalai's apology comes amid strong backlash from the opposition over the incident, with the Congress party alleging that the owner of Sree Annapoorna was humiliated for asking for a simplified GST regime.
In a social media post on Friday, K. Annamalai apologised, saying, "I sincerely apologise for the actions of our functionaries who shared a private conversation between a respected business owner and our Hon. FM."
Expressing regret over the incident, he said, "I spoke with Thiru Srinivasan Avl, the esteemed owner of the Annapoorna chain of restaurants, to express regret for this unintended breach of privacy."
"Annapoorna Srinivasan Anna is a pillar of Tamil Nadu’s business community, contributing significantly to the state’s and nation’s economic growth. I request everyone to lay the matter to rest with due respect," he further added.
Rahul Gandhi's scathing attack on FM Sitharaman
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack against FM Sitharaman over the incident.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Rahul said, "When the owner of a small business, like Annapoorna restaurant in Coimbatore, asks our public servants for a simplified GST regime, his request is met with arrogance and outright disrespect. Yet, when a billionaire friend seeks to bend the rules, change the laws, or acquire national assets, Modi Ji rolls out the red carpet."
Hitting out at FM Sitharaman, Rahul said, "Our small business owners have already endured the blows of demonetisation, an inaccessible banking system, tax extortion, and a disastrous GST. The last thing they deserve is further humiliation. But when the fragile egos of those in power are hurt, it seems humiliation is exactly what they’ll deliver."
All About the Controversy:
During her visit to Tamil Nadu on September 11, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met with industrialists and hoteliers in Coimbatore. At the event, Srinivasan, representing the Tamil Nadu Hotels Association, raised concerns over GST inconsistencies.
A video of the event went viral on social media, where Srinivasan is seen asking for a simplified GST regime. While addressing the issue, he humorously remarked, "Even the computers are unable to compute."
“The problem is that GST is applied differently to each item. For example, there is no GST on a bun, but if you add cream to it, GST becomes 18%. Because of this, customers request the bun and cream separately so they can apply it themselves to save money,” he explained.
He further added, “People say that the FM has imposed 5% GST on sweets and 12% on namkeen because people in the North eat a lot of sweets. In Tamil Nadu, sweets, namkeen, and coffee are consumed together. Please apply a uniform GST on these items. The computer itself is getting stuck due to this GST confusion.”
Many social media users used the clip of the interaction to mock the Finance Minister.
Following the incident, the Tamil Nadu BJP released a short video showing the owner of Annapoorna Hotel apologising to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for his comments on GST.
