Congress-led UDF in Kerala has announced a hartal on October 16 to protest against the price hike owing to Goods and Services Tax (GST) and hike in fuel prices.
The hartal was earlier announced on October 13 and later following criticism over holding it during the Under -17 FIFA world cup in Kochi, it was postponed.
Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala in his statement said that many were demanding that the hartal be postponed.
Earlier in the press meet at Malappuram district, while calling for a hartal, Chennithala said that the hartal was against frequent hike in prices of petrol and diesel and also against implementation of GST. He also added that the hartal will be peaceful and essential services will not be affected.
The Congress’s protest is not only against the central government led by BJP but also against LDF government in Kerala, as state finance minister had supported GST, he said.
"Isaac was one of the persons who had hailed the GST even more than Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. Now he should explain to people following the rise in prices of goods. Prices of all essential commodities have gone up,” Chennithala said in the press meet, The New IndianExpress reports.
Meanwhile, the Kerala cabinet decided to introduce a mechanism to counter traders charging higher prices in the name of GST. The cabinet decided to get a new software to clear the misunderstanding of traders and bring clarity on GST.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that even after three months of GST implementation, issues were not resolved and it was causing trouble to customers and taxpayers.