Congress attacks Modi govt over market fall, FII outflows; flags middle-class tax burden
Gohil targeted the Centre over capital gains taxation on stock market investments, arguing that middle-class investors were being subjected to higher tax burden
The Congress party has harshly criticized the Narendra Modi-led government for the decline in the Indian stock market and ongoing outflows of foreign investors, arguing that the government's policies are adversely affecting the middle class. Over ₹4 lakh crore has left the country through Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) in the past nine months, with foreign investors selling another ₹10,148 crore in October, bringing their year-to-date selling to approximately $27.8 billion.
Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil pointed out that the Centre is imposing a higher tax burden on middle-class investors, with short-term capital gains taxed at 20%, compared to 12.5% for long-term capital gains, which the Congress-led UPA government had previously set to zero. Gohil also highlighted that the BJP government has essentially doubled the tax on middle-class investments in the stock market.
Comparing the market performance under the Congress-led UPA government to that under the Modi government, Gohil claimed that the Sensex grew by 398% during the 10 years of Manmohan Singh's tenure as prime minister, but plummeted by 20.8% under the current government. Gohil argued that the BJP government has "completely ruined the country's economy," attributing the sustained foreign investor outflows, a weak rupee, and the losses suffered by middle-class investors to the government's actions.
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