Let govt forgo its oil excise duty revenue: CPM

Terming the reduction in sales tax on petrol and diesel by some Congress-ruled states as 'tokenism', CPM said on Saturday the central government has to lead by example by foregoing its share of taxes instead of passing the burden
to the state governments.

"Asking the state governments to reduce sales tax is a diversionary move. It's the central government that has increased the price and it has to slash them and state governments (including Left ruled ones) will follow", Prakash Karat, General secretary of CPM said.

"If the government takes the lead, forgoing some of its revenues from excise duty and other taxes or releases some of the amount from the oil cess pool that it has accumulated, it would be fair to ask the state governments to sacrifice some
of their revenue from sales tax", he said when asked if the Left front governments would also slash taxes.

In what is largely being seen as a populist move, Andhra Pradesh has already reduced fuel prices and some other Congress-ruled states have announced that they would follow suit.

CPM central committee has resovled to carry out a sustained agitation against the increase in prices of essential commoditites, including petrol and diesel, Karat said.