Don't Endorse GST, Congress Urges Amitabh Bachchan

The Congress' Mumbai unit asked megastar Amitabh Bachchan to refrain from acting as the Brand Ambassador for the upcoming Goods & Services Tax (GST) being rolled out from July 1.

"Both Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) and Finance Minister (Arun Jaitley) know that the government is not ready nor does it have the infrastructure to roll out GST. That's why it is using a legend like Amitabh Bachchan so that he becomes the fall guy and has to face the brickbats," Mumbai Congress President Sanjay Nirupam said in a statement.

Nirupam noted that he had the utmost respect for the superstar and hence "wanted to caution him" against being used by government on the issue of GST.

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"The idea was 'One Country, One Tax,' but what is being rolled out is a one country and at least four taxes. Why are Indians being fooled? And why use an icon and his credibility to fool them?" he asked demanded.

According to some reports, the megastar has responded on social media, saying he was asked to do it and so he did it.

Amitabh appears in a 40-second video released by the government on GST where he explains the various benefits of the new tax regime coming up next month.

Besides GST, the Bollywood legend is the Brand Ambassador for various other government initiatives like Swachch Bharat Abhiyan's latest campaign, 'Darwaza Band' (Door Shut), and also for Gujarat Tourism. With inputs from IANS.