Days after Ilaiyaraaja sparked a row by writing words of praise for PM Modi, the music composer is once again in the news, for receiving a Goods and Services Tax summons. He has been issued two summons from the Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence, Chennai Zonal Unit, for non-payment of service tax. The summons were issued on February 28 and March 1 and it says that Ilaiyaraaja or his representative should provide evidence/documents that the dues have been paid. The summons set a deadline for submission of documents/proof at the GST office. The first summons set March 10, 2022 as the deadline while the second one extended it to March 28, 2022.
After the summons from the GST directorate, there are several allegations that the music composer praised Modi in the foreword of a book titled Ambedkar & Modi — Reformer’s Ideas, Performer’s Implementation, to rid himself of the tax issue.
TNM contacted Ilaiyaraaja’s team including his counsel who categorically denied any motive behind the maestro’s praise for the Prime Minister. They added that the summons were a ‘one one’, “It is a 2017 issue — an old case of service tax non-payment. Although we have settled the matter and paid all the dues, the case has somehow not been closed,” the team said.
The GST summons come even as Ilaiyaraaja is being trolled for praising Prime Minister Modi. The famous composer compared BR Ambedkar to Modi in the foreword to a book titled Ambedkar & Modi — Reformer’s Ideas, Performer’s Implementation, written by BlueKraft Digital Foundation, which describes itself as an organization dedicated “to harness talent in India and to implement out-of-box ideas for social welfare”.
The foreword reads, “Both these striking personalities succeeded against odds that people from socially disempowered sections of the society face. Both saw poverty and stifling social structures from close quarters and worked to dismantle them, but both are also practical men who believe in action rather than mere thought exercises.”
The composer also writes, “Pro-women legislation such as the banning of triple talaq and the rise in sex ratio due to the historic ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ movement, which has brought in social transformation, is something that Dr BR Ambedkar would have been proud of."
After the foreword spread on social media, the composer was branded a ‘sanghi’ and was trolled by users. The foreword also led to speculation that the 78-year-old was going to be offered a seat in the Rajya Sabha (Upper House). While BJP leaders including JP Nadda (BJP President), K Annamalai (BJP Tamil Nadu chief), Tamilisai Soundararajan (Telangana Governor) etc came to the composer’s aid, he was also criticised by opposition party leaders.
I have immense personal respect for Isai Ganani #Ilayaraja, his comparison of #Modi with #DrBabasahebAmbedkar is wholly inappropriate as he is equating a person who has thrown all constitutional norms & propriety with the scholar who was instrumental in framing our constitution.
— Karti P Chidambaram (@KartiPC) April 18, 2022
Ilaiyaraaja’s team has not confirmed whether the composer has political aspirations. His brother Gangai Amaran, a noted music director and popular lyricist, joined the BJP in 2017.