Stalin slams Nirmala Sitharaman over restaurant chain owner’s apology: Shameful

Mangalore Today News Network

Tamil Nadu, September 14, 2024: Tamil Nadu Chief Minsiter MK Stalin on Saturday slammed Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman over the video of a restaurant chain owner apologising to the union minister during a private conversation after publicly expressing concern about the complexities of GST on food items at a government event.

Reacting to the incident, Stalin termed it "disheartening" and added that Sitharaman handled the situation in a "shameful" manner.

"It is very disheartening to see what happened to someone who spoke about GST. The way the union minister handled it is shameful and people are watching," the DMK chief said.

During a meeting with the Union Finance Minister in Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore district, the chairperson of Sri Annapoorna restaurant, Srinivasan, flagged the challenges faced by restaurateurs due to the varying GST rates on food items.

Srinivasan highlighted that cream-filled buns are taxed at 18 per cent whereas there is no GST on the buns themselves.

"There is 5 per cent GST on sweets but 12 per cent on savouries. There is an 18 per cent GST on cream-filled buns, whereas there is no GST on buns. Customers often complain, saying, ’Just give me the bun, I will add the cream and jam myself’," Srinivasan said, drawing laughter from other entrepreneurs.

Later, during a private conversation, Srinivasan apologised to Sitharaman for his remarks in the presence of Coimbatore South MLA Vanathi Srinivasan. "Please pardon me for my comments. I do not belong to any political party," he is heard saying.

A video of the conversation was shared on X by BJP’s Tamil Nadu social media cell state convenor, drawing outrage from Opposition parties.

Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, also slammed Sitharaman, saying "fragile egos" only deliver humiliation.