“Budget Must Eliminate Raid Raj and Tax Terrorism”: Congress’ Jairam Ramesh
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has strongly criticised the Modi government’s economic policies ahead of the 2025/26 Union Budget, calling for an end to “raid raj and Tax Terrorism.” In a statement released on 19 January, Ramesh accused the government of fostering a punitive tax regime and undermining private investment.
“The Modi government has long proclaimed its desire to improve the ease of doing business in India. Yet, in the past decade, we have seen only an easing of private investment, which has fallen to record lows, and the easing out of businesspersons who have departed India in large numbers for foreign shores,” he said.
Ramesh highlighted a decline in private domestic investment, which he claimed had fallen from the 25-30% GDP range during Dr Manmohan Singh’s tenure to 20-25% under the current government. This, he stated, has coincided with a mass exodus of over 17.5 lakh Indians acquiring foreign citizenship in the past decade. “An estimated 21,300 dollar millionaires left India between 2022 and 2025,” he added.
The Congress leader cited three key reasons for the current economic state. Firstly, he criticised the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, describing it as “a byzantine, punitive, and arbitrary tax system.” Ramesh noted, “The GST, proclaimed by the PM to be a Good and Simple Tax, has up to 100 different tax rates, including cesses. This has facilitated alarming GST evasion of Rs 2.01 lakh crore, almost double the Rs 1.01 lakh crore reported in FY23.”
Secondly, he pointed to the continuing influx of Chinese imports, which led to a record trade deficit of $85 billion in 2023-24. He argued that this has “damaged Indian manufacturing, especially in labour-intensive sectors.”
Lastly, Ramesh addressed weak consumption and stagnant wages, citing Ministry of Agriculture data which showed a decline in real wages for agricultural labourers under the Modi government. “Average real earnings stagnated between 2017 and 2022 across all workers: salaried, casual, and self-employed,” he stated.
Ramesh urged the upcoming budget to prioritise eliminating “raid raj and Tax Terrorism,” protecting Indian manufacturing jobs, and boosting wages and purchasing power to restore investor confidence. “Nothing less will do,” he concluded.
