Pranab loses his cool

At the meeting of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee lost his cool when Madhya Pradesh Finance Minister Raghavji said states would lose their autonomy with the introduction of the goods and services tax (GST). “Don’t accuse me of bringing the GST. If you feel it’s not good, don’t bring it,” Mukherjee said. This is not surprising, since both the Centre and the states have been at this dialogue on the GST for around four years now.