At the stroke of midnight on 30 June, the Indian government embarked on its most sweeping tax reform in 70 years since independence, implementing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) — that aims to replace federal and state taxes and make it simpler to do business.
While the irate Left, Congress, Trinamool Congress and the RJD, which have called the tax "half-baked", skipped the historic event at Parliament, the entire council of ministers and MPs from National Democratic Alliance (NDA) showed up in full force. The Reserve Bank Governor Urjit Patel, Vijay Kelkar — the architect of the tax, CAG Shashi Kant Sharma, Niti Aayog vice chairman Arvind Panagariya, Metro man E Sreedharan, UPSC Chairman David R Syiemlieh, lawyers Soli Sorabjee and Harish Salve, Pankaj Patel of Ficci, and Shobana Kamineni of CII were present, were there among others.
However, no sooner than Prime Minister Narendra Modi started to address the gathering, there was this one unifying apprehension on social media.
And true to his government's strange love for coining acronyms, Modi, on cue, called it the 'Good and Simple Tax'. The sluice gates of Twitter opened and users immediately seized upon the opportunity to bravely go where no trolls have gone before.
New full forms of GST were flying fast and thick. And since not everyone was a cheerleader of the 'Good and Simple Tax', critics of GST were not holding back.
1. For example, Tehseen Poonawalla, who is reportedly related to Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra, had a this mature counter for Modi's GST acronym.
2. Or this journalist who needs her carbs, tax or no tax.
3. This not-so-subtle person who dropped a dung bomb.
4.This user with reservations.
5. A bullish effort, given the cowrrent situation in the cowntry.
6. This user with his own Time Zone.
7. A dire warning for the government.
8. And this naysayer.
9.गठरी सँभालो टैक्स 😂
Always stay weird, Twitter.