- 4 months ago
The West Bengal Assembly saw a clash between Trinamool Congress (TMC) and BJP MLAs during a discussion on alleged attacks against Bengali migrant workers.
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00:00Good evening, there was high drama in the West Bengal Assembly today when Trinamool Congress and the Bhartia Jantapari MLAs virtually came to blows during a special session.
00:10Mamata Banerji launched a frontal attack on the BJP, on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
00:17The BJP Chief Whip, Dr. Sakar Ghosh, was injured in the scuffle during a heated exchange on the issue of attack on Bengali migrant workers in BJP ruled states.
00:28The BJP, of course, in the past has said that they are targeting illegal Bangladeshis in India and that big debate is our top focus story.
00:49Bengal House turns battle field.
00:52Modi, turn to the BJP, Modi, turn to the BJP.
00:55Anti-Bengali visa pihata, just watch out.
01:00Vote-chor war explodes.
01:11Chance, chaos and clash in assembly.
01:14Marshals clash with BJP MLAs.
01:29BJP Chief Whip injured.
01:37BJP cries murder of democracy by Mamata.
01:41Subinduza, you have tweeted murder of democracy.
01:45Yes!
01:46Yes!
01:49SIR showdown, the Bengal files.
01:51That is our big focus on India First.
01:54So, is this a debate about an attack on Bengali migrant workers within the country or are illegal Bangladeshis living in India being rounded up?
02:06The battle lines are very clearly drawn between the ruling TMC in Bengal and the opposition BJP and passions ran high.
02:12Speaker Biman Banerjee called in marshals to evict BJP's chief whip, Dr. Ghosh following his suspension.
02:18BJP MLAs, they were chanting Jai Shri Ram as they stole proceedings.
02:22And the TMC sought to pass a motion condemning the attack on the Bengali migrant workers in BJP ruled states.
02:29And we get you that entire story on this special broadcast.
02:32Also, coming up on India First, how do the GST rate cuts impact your lives?
02:38What's cheaper and what's not?
02:40What will spur growth and manufacturing?
02:42Jayan Sinha, former Minister of State Finance, explains the big bumper move by the Narendra Modi government ahead of the festival season.
02:51And that big question, does it help cushion the blow of additional U.S. tariffs?
02:57That's coming up on India First.
02:59I'm Gaurav Savant. As always, let's get started with the headlines at 8.
03:08Prime Minister Narendra Modi hails the GST reform, says reduced tax slabs to boost ease of living and manufacturing in India.
03:17PM also lashed out at the previous UPA government for heavily taxing the common people of this country.
03:26Tax system has been too simple.
03:28ndroosra, bharat ke nagarikon ki quality of life aur badegi.
03:34ndroosra, kanjumshan on r growth drono ko naya bushthar ne legega.
03:39some relief for residents of delhi yamuna river slowly starts to recede but it's still flowing
03:49above the danger mark delhi government maintains round the clock vigil thousands shifted to relief
03:55camps enforcement directed questions cricketer shikhar dhavan for over eight hours for allegedly
04:07promoting an illegal betting app last month cricketers suresh rayna and actors rana tagubati and
04:14vijay devara konda were also questioned
04:16more proof of indian missile strikes in pakistan the latest satellite images accessed by india today
04:28show beginning of reconstruction work at the noor khan airbase in ravalpindi that was struck by india
04:34during operation sindoor
04:36india today accesses the donald trump government's appeal before supreme court on tariffs which states
04:47tariffs on india for purchasing russian oil claims tariff on india vital for peace in ukraine
04:53the bengal assembly witnessed high drama today with chief minister mamata banerji accusing
05:04the bjp prime minister narendra modi and union home minister amit shah of being anti-bengal and
05:10blocking a discussion on the harassment of bengalese in bjp ruled states leader of opposition in the state
05:16assembly shruvendu adhikari hit back saying democracy was murdered by mamata banerji
05:22led government in the state india today's indrajeet kundu gets you a top story
05:28the vote chori controversy is exploding after bihar it is bengal
05:48slogans cures and clashes that too inside the west bengal assembly
05:57the showdown began with speaker suspending bjp's chief whip
06:03shankar gosh for disrupting chief minister mamata banerji's speech
06:07while gosh refused to leave marshals marched in a scuffle broke out
06:19the bjp mla was injured and is now in the hospital undergoing treatment
06:29other bjp mla's were marshalled out after they tore papers and raised slogans of jai shiram
06:38mamata banerji hit back with fire from vote chori to modi chor and bjp chor she raised her own
06:46slogans accusing the bjp of poll fraud and corruption
06:50as the injured mla was rushed to hospital bjp's fight shifted to the streets outside assembly
07:10leader of opposition suvendu adhikari led bjp protests alleging mamata murdered democracy
07:19all are gunda tmc cadar
07:21they brutally attacked and physically assaulted and injured keep whip opposition sankar goes
07:31instruction by speaker biman menerji instigated by
07:38thiep mamata binerji a great thiep of bengal
07:42the bengal assembly meanwhile passed a resolution condemning attacks on bengali speaking migrants
07:56in bjp rule state
07:58of bengal
07:59and these were anti bengali you are anti bengal
08:02and now bangla
08:03bangla
08:05bangla
08:07bangla
08:10man
08:11of
08:13bengal
08:14Mamata Banar Ji is the leader of the country that has no merit in the democracy.
08:25In the democracy that has no merit in the democracy,
08:29he will not do this work.
08:31Now, it will not be true to the Hindus of Bengal,
08:37No, it will not be true to the whole Bengal.
08:45From the floor to the assembly, to the streets outside,
08:48the fight over vote-chori allegations are Bengal's new flashpoint.
08:53Bureau Report, India Today.
08:55Votachor! Votachor! Votachor! Votachor!
09:01So, is this about a crackdown on Bengalis in other BJP-ruled states,
09:07or Bangladeshis in BJP-ruled states?
09:10With assembly elections just about 8 months away in Bengal,
09:13the battle lines are very clearly drawn,
09:15with threats and challenges of now taking the fight,
09:18not just in the assembly, but to the streets.
09:22And why is this battle so bitter and so personal?
09:26Joining me on India first is Shikha Mukherjee,
09:28she's a political analyst and senior journalist.
09:30Tuhin Sinha, national spokesperson of the BJP.
09:33Garga Chatterjee joins us as an analyst,
09:36will also give us the Trinamool Congress perspective on this story.
09:39Rajat Sethi, a political analyst and author.
09:42And Garga Chatterjee, if I could begin by asking you, sir,
09:44Bengal, very famous for Rasgulla,
09:48even sweeter language and the Bhadralok culture.
09:52What was witnessed in the assembly today, sir,
09:54was none of the above.
09:56Why does Mamta Di get so angry?
09:59So the Bengal assembly today had a historic session at a time when Bengali Indian citizens
10:13are being targeted and criminalized for speaking Bangla in India,
10:19a country that was liberated by Shubhas Chandra Bosu whose mother tongue was Bangla.
10:24In fact, the New York Times carried an article just few days ago,
10:29which summarized this situation as the title was the risk of speaking Bengali.
10:35It is true that people of Bangladesh speak the Bangla language,
10:40but there is nothing called the Bangladeshi language,
10:43which the home ministry of India under Amit Shah has referred to Bengali language as.
10:49It's a very tricky trend.
10:51Let me tell you something.
10:52Pakistanis, when they see the number one, they say ek.
10:56When they see the number two, they say do.
11:01When they see the number ten, they say das.
11:04So should we go around India and in West Bengal catching people who say ek, do and das
11:10and brand them Pakistanis because we know there is infiltration from Pakistan.
11:13Of course, that's a reality.
11:15It's a dangerous reality, but it's a reality.
11:17So we should understand what is going on and let me run off very fast certain names.
11:23Babai Shardar is a very active RSS activist who also did the third stage course of the RSS in Nagpur,
11:32who was picked up from Nasik as being branded as a foreigner and was kept in a detention camp in Nagpur.
11:40Okay, the Diamond Harbour MP Obishek Banerjee finally sort of freed him.
11:46Shujan Sharkar of Murshidabad, who was beaten up in Urissa, tagged as a foreigner.
11:52Buddha Dev Barik of Medhinipur.
11:54Debashish Das of Chuchuro.
11:56Debashish Das I personally met.
11:58I went and held a rally with him from Chuchuro district.
12:01Binoy Beshra, he's Adhibashi, okay, who lives in Malda, son of Bengal.
12:08Again, being beaten up, you know, we have from the Motua community in Gurgaon, Mathuram Bishash.
12:16Mathuram, even the name suggests that the family might have been kind of, you know,
12:22the father might have been believing in a certain kind of ideology.
12:25He was picked up and then, you know, I can go on with such names.
12:29Fair enough.
12:30Let me now take this, let me take this to Tuhin Sina.
12:34Tuhin Sina, Indian Bengalis are being branded Bangladeshis and targeted is the allegation.
12:42And when the Assembly sits to discuss this, as Garga Chatterjee says, for a historic session,
12:48the BJP created ruckus.
12:52How is the BJP any different when your party spokesperson tweeted,
12:56TMC means talibani mindset and culture?
12:59Why is the BJP hesitant?
13:01As some in the Trinmool Congress ask, discuss these claims of attacks on Bengalis in BJP ruled states.
13:08Well, good evening, Gaurav. Good evening, everybody.
13:11First of all, our opposition to Mamata Banerjee was primarily on account of her uncouth, uncivilized, despicable choice of words.
13:22You know, on the floor of the house, when she uses words like Modi Chor, BJP Chor, without any evidence,
13:30I think, you know, the Speaker should have ideally suspended her at that point of time.
13:35But instead, the Speaker chose to let the Marshals go after BJP MLA.
13:40So let us not obfuscate issues. We were open to all discussions.
13:43It was primarily the uncouth behavior of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, which made us, which provoked us, which made us protest her behavior.
13:52Number two, you know, you know, TMC is today mentioning certain exceptions, you know, of people being caught who were not Bangladeshis.
14:00Now, unless, you know, you have you have evidence of that, unless I have clear evidence of that, I would not trust the TMC,
14:08because like the Congress Party, TMC is a master in the art of fakery.
14:13And finally, you know, it boils down to do they really want, you know, I mean, it's very clear.
14:20Both the Congress Party and the TMC have made their choices clear.
14:23They will abuse the Prime Minister only because we want to go after we are going after illegal migrants.
14:30Why should illegal migrants deplete the resources of the of, you know, our country?
14:35It is, you know, and one last point, you know, the kind of violence which these people have unleashed in Murshidabad in recent times across Bengal in the aftermath of 2021 elections.
14:46I think, you know, the what we saw in Bengal Assembly today seems to suggest that TMC is prepared to unleash any kind of violence across Bengal because they know that the, you know, the feet is slipping, the ground is slipping beneath the feet.
15:02Okay, give me a moment. I think we've just lost our link to Shikha Mukherjee and I'll bring her in in just a moment into this conversation.
15:08Rajat Sethi, is this about Bengalis or Bangladeshis? Amit Malviya, the BJP co-in charge, Bengal and IT, BJP IT cell chief had posted things to the effect that illegal Bangladeshis are being targeted.
15:22So is this now a battle of Bengali Asmita versus illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators in Bengal?
15:29Well, without, you know, getting into the politics of the state of Bengal, I only want to refer to Mamata Banerjee when she was a member of the parliament and what she has spoken on the floor of the house.
15:42I just want to corroborate whom was she pointing out when she was saying that Bengal has come to a situation where it will be inundated by illegal migrants completely.
15:54Was she not referring to the Bengali Asmita then? See, it's out and out politics.
15:59She knows that she needs to start drum beating around the election time and the election time is seven, eight months. What better to stoke the regional sentiments?
16:08You see this happening in the southern states all the time when election comes. This is the same old script.
16:14The problem is that our politicians have run out of ideas. They have absolutely nothing to contribute to the growth story of the states that they are leading,
16:22that they are sitting in the chair for. Let me ask this question. What about Bengali Asmita she talks about?
16:28She constituted a global economic think tank of sorts for Bengal and which had all the luminaries around the world, including Amartya Sen.
16:35Such think tanks don't even meet even once in her own state. What has she done for the Bengali Asmita before she comes out and claims Bengali Asmita as something that she's proud of?
16:45My problem here is that you want to politic, politic, but don't do your politicking at the cost of internal security. That remains bottom line.
16:55And no citizen of this country should fall for such petty level of politics. It's as simple as that.
17:00Now the problem here is clear. Prime Minister Modi and the Home Minister have repeatedly said that this country will have to say no to illegal migrants.
17:10No country allowed for that matter. And as long as that remains a subject, you should not make it political no matter what.
17:17Okay. And I'll come to Garga to respond to that. But Shikha Mukherjee, 2021 elections started on the 27th of March in Bengal.
17:25So barely about seven to eight months to go for polling. In the way you look at it, is this likely to get even more bitter and personal and spill out on the streets of Bengal?
17:36Is this about Bengali Asmita or is this Bengali Asmita versus illegal Bangladeshis in our country?
17:44Well, I think, you know, let's be very clear. Bengal elections are always high pitched. They are always very intense.
17:53And as you pointed out, 2021, look at the run up to the 2021 election. You know, we all covered it. We all know what happened.
18:03We also saw what happened in the 2024 general election. Extreme intense, extreme and intense campaigning by both sides.
18:12And frankly speaking, if you look at the way in which the language issue, who speaks what? Why is Bengali a matter of contention?
18:25That is the question that we need to ask ourselves. And then you have something that, frankly speaking, the BJP has been pursuing for 30 odd years, which is illegal immigrants and especially illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.
18:39They've had for 30 years when LK Advani was the home minister, he used to try and detect these people and then push them back across the border, etc.
18:50You have a situation where we are unable to speak to the Bangladesh government on the matter.
18:57At this point and in the past, we've had a problem. Therefore, this problem of illegal immigrant is not going to go away.
19:05It is a political issue. It will remain a political issue because there is no solution to the problem as it stands.
19:16The two governments can't talk to each other, Amish. And therefore, there is the politics of it.
19:21And is this then the most evocative issue in the run-up to elections along with SIR, the special intensive revision and I'll come to that aspect in just a moment.
19:29Because Garga Chatterjee, Mamata Banerjee said, and I quote, mark my words, a day will come when not a single BJP MLA will sit in this house.
19:39People will throw you out of power. The Modi and Amish Shah-led government at the centre will collapse soon.
19:45Oh, words to that effect. Sir, isn't this wishful thinking on the part of either Mamata Banerjee or the Trinbull Congress?
19:52Look at the BJP's vote share in Bengal that went up from 4% in 2011 to about 37.9% and the tally went from 0 in 2011 to 77 in the last assembly elections.
20:07So, what she was referring to is a phenomenon which post-71, there are lots of people, Hindu Bengalis, who have faced religious persecution in Bangladesh and have come into India, West Bengal, Assam, etc., various other states, who are not CAA eligible because the CAA has been made so that Hindu Bengalis cannot actually take advantage of it.
20:36Today, in fact, Himunta Visya Sharma, the Assam chief minister, led it to the public that with all this much touted CAA, a total of 12 people had applied and 3 had gotten citizenship.
20:48So, you can understand, you know, what's the reality. Also, on the illegal Bangladeshi huge number of people coming in, let me give you, I'll be on facts again.
20:57From 1971 to 1981 to 1991 to 1991 to 2001 to 2011, all the decades where census has happened, the percentage of Indians who have Bangla as their mother tongue has actually decreased in every decade.
21:15So, on one side, you are claiming there are these lakhs and crores of illegal Bangladeshi Muslims who are totally coming in and then in every decade, Bengali as mother language speaking percentage in Indian population, not citizen mind you, is going down and then you are picking up Hindu Bengalis and also Muslim Bengalis who are Indian citizens and then you are claiming they are foreigners.
21:40Let me give you one case, one case and I'll end my case. So, I went to Kaliachok in Malda to go to the home of Amir Sheikh. He's a 21 year old boy who went to Rajasthan to work. That was his first time getting outside of the state.
21:54So, he was picked up again as a foreigner. Of course, Muslim name doesn't help. And then he was actually transferred to the Gojadanga border by the BSF and then he was lobbed allegedly using a JCB into Bangladesh.
22:10Okay, the story doesn't end here. So, in Bangladesh, he got hold of some guy who had a phone, did a video call, father came to know, I went to the dad, they have documents from 1941, 61, 70s, 80s, etc.
22:27Legitimate Indian forever, okay. And then a habeas corpus case is done by the father. BSF is forced to talk to the border guard Bangladesh, give the guy back to Bushirhat police.
22:43The point is, on what documents did this Indian citizen get transport, get picked up from Rajasthan, transported to BSF and chucked on the other side of the border?
22:56This is human trafficking, kidnapping or is it the crime of being Bengali in India?
23:01So, in Sina, the TMC's allegation is that the BJP is, if not just permitting, it's actually facilitating harassment of Bengali-speaking Indians, whether they're in Urisa or in Delhi or in Rajasthan or Maharashtra or Assam, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, including in some instances, the TMC says, those who are showing that they have valid Indian documents.
23:28How do you look at this detention of forced detention and branding these people as Bangladeshis?
23:37The TMC is quoting rarest of rare exceptions, which can, you know, which exist in all situations.
23:43But, you know, even as a journalist, all you need to do is travel to areas of Malda, North 24 Pergana, South 24 Pergana in Bengal, Murshidabad in Bengal.
23:53And some of the shanties, you know, beside Gurugram and Noida, you will see the situation for yourself.
24:02You know, I don't need to emphasize, I don't need to emphasize the problem of illegal migration.
24:07You know, whether it is almost 10 districts of Bengal today, whether it is the Santal Pergana area of Jharkhand, all of these are impacted.
24:16And now because of them, because of the free run, they enjoin these districts where they get naturalized by friendly parties like TMC, RJD, JMM.
24:25They get Aadhar cards by virtue of which they are spread out across the country.
24:29Now, on your show today, let Garga Chatterjee, you know, support SIR, which these people have tried their best to stall in the last two months, but the Supreme Court found nothing wrong with it.
24:40All of these antics, which TMC is coming up with, is only to circumvent, only to stall SIR in Bengal, because they know that the findings of SIR in Bengal will be shocking, will be unbelievable.
24:54And they want to stall it by all means.
24:56Shikha Mukherjee, is that also your appreciation that this Bengali Asmita versus illegal Bangladeshi issue is ultimately going to lead to the BJP calling for that special intensive revision of the voter list and the TMC by some accountsâĻ
25:13The BJP has already called it, Gaurav.
25:15Yes.
25:16Gaurav, yes.
25:17The BJP has already called the SIR in West Wingman.
25:19Yes, and the election commission says we will do it at an appropriate time.
25:23In Assam, but the point that you're trying to raise is important, which is that will NSIR do what Mr. Sinha hopes it will, which is detect millions of these illegal immigrants in West Bengal?
25:41Yes, it will, and what kind of illegal immigrants Mr. Tuhin Sinha should also know, because Mr. Tuhin Sinha should also know that from 71, thousands, tens of thousands of Hindu Bengalis have come across the border.
26:00Their documentation will also be open to inspection.
26:05Let me also explain to Mr. Tuhin Sinha and the others that if it is about, say, the one community, the Matwas.
26:16Matwas are a community which impacts many, many constituencies in West Bengal, directly and indirectly.
26:25Now, if you look at the Matwas, they actually came post-71.
26:30Most of the Matwas came post-71.
26:33So you have this huge number of people who are in panic at this point in time and they are trying to sort of set up ways in which to determine whether they will be negatively impacted, whether their citizenship as Indians is going to be questioned and challenged and they are going to have to be put into detention camps.
27:01And this is the story that we are hearing here, that Matwas and others who have come in after 71 are asking, we ran away from Bangladesh because of persecution.
27:15Will we be sent back?
27:16Will we be persecuted once again?
27:21Will we be detained in detention camps?
27:26This is panic.
27:28Let's not trivialize this issue.
27:33The naturalization process in India also has a time window which is 10 to 11 years.
27:40And anybody who has stayed beyond that becomes a citizen of this country.
27:43All that needs to be shown is that they have been in India for that long.
27:46So this kind of a fear that is created in any kind of a community, be it Hindu-Muslim, is unfair.
27:53The other paradoxical situation is that there was a distinguishment which was created between people who are sneaking into our borders, crossing the country for economic reasons and for political persecution reasons.
28:05This was the entire premise for having CAA and having NRC in the place, in the very first place.
28:11But there was this hookah around and Mamata Banerjee, she took a flip-flop on the positions around which she started her politics.
28:20My simple point is that illegal migration was the core point that defined her politics for decades and decades.
28:27And she now gups up and says because that becomes a convenient vote base for her, she wants to throw the issue around.
28:33And she wants to ensure that she can lap up.
28:35See, the problem that Gargah has mentioned, again anecdotes and this is a famous saying that anecdotes cannot replace statistics.
28:42The statistics clearly say that there are illegal migrants.
28:46I'm very happy that Rajat Sethi raised the issue of people who have come across the border, legally or illegally, for economic reasons.
29:04Now, this is a problem which has to be resolved on a government-to-government basis.
29:09For 11 years, nothing has been done.
29:12What was the government doing?
29:15This is a problem.
29:16And please, Rajat Sethi, go back and look at history, recent history.
29:21Mr. Advani raised this issue.
29:25Mr. Advani tried to make this into a kind of policy.
29:30It didn't happen.
29:32And I'm talking back in the 1990s.
29:35And that is that, you know, between people who come here for economic reasons and people who are coming for other reasons.
29:46Are persecuted.
29:47And please...
29:48Those who are persecuted.
29:49No.
29:50No.
29:51But please, there was a time when Mr. Buddadeer Bhattacharya and Mr. L. K. Advani were very seriously concerned about the terrorist influx into via the West-Pingal border.
30:04Yes.
30:05And that remains a very, very major concern.
30:08Having done...
30:09All this having happened for 11 years, why was no serious work done on this...
30:18On these...
30:19The last 30 seconds I have on this part of the show, you want to quickly respond to that?
30:22That's just only end up being an electoral issue.
30:25Okay.
30:26That will only end up being an electoral issue just before elections.
30:30Yeah.
30:31It's very unfair to say that not much has been done.
30:34Border fencing has been initiated on a war footing, barring the 450 kilometers, you know, of border where Mamata Banerjee does not want to give a free hand for, you know, for BSF patrolling because of some land issues.
30:47Because the entire border has been seized and not only that, we are equally serious about our border with Myanmar.
30:521500 kilometers are being fenced.
30:54Again, two years ago, when a new rule was initiated that, you know, the radius of patrolling would be extended to a radius of 50 kilometers.
31:04Which Mahdi had opposed it?
31:06It was the TMC which opposed it tooth and nail.
31:09So, TMC is fundamentally...
31:10So, clearly, round one of this battle was Bengali Aswita versus the illegal Bangladeshis.
31:18Will it now intensify in the run-up to elections to the special intensive revision of the electoral roll?
31:23I have run out of time on this part of the show to all my guests.
31:26Many thanks for joining me.
31:27I now want to shift focus to the Prime Minister hailing the GST Council's approval of what he called was the next generation GST reforms.
31:36Prime Minister Narendra Modi described them as a significant step to improve the lives of citizens,
31:42to bring in ease of business operations, particularly for MSME and also for small traders.
31:49Now, the reforms announced after this 56th GST Council meeting in Delhi, the Prime Minister said would benefit the common people in our country.
31:57It would benefit farmers, MSME, middle class women and youth.
32:01He said that the reforms aligned with his Independence Day speech on the 15th of August,
32:05where he promised a Diwali Bonanza, a gift of reduced tax burden.
32:11The Prime Minister specifically mentioned that reforms effective from the 22nd of September 2025.
32:17That's when Navratri starts.
32:20Would add five gems to the Indian economy.
32:23For more, watch this report.
32:34Tariff tussle, taxes and a message.
32:37India's growth story cannot be stopped.
32:42As global trade war heats up, India finds itself right at the center.
32:47U.S. President on Wednesday doubled down on his tariff rant.
32:53In his latest quote, filing defending fresh tariffs, Donald Trump accused India of draining America's wealth.
33:00For many years, it was a one-sided relationship.
33:05Only now, since I came along, and because of the power that we have with tariffs,
33:09India was charging us tremendous tariffs, about the highest in the world.
33:13So they would send in massive, you know, everything they made.
33:16They would send it in, pour it into our country.
33:19Therefore, it wouldn't be made here, you know, which is a negative.
33:22But we would not send in anything, because they were charging us 100 percent tariff.
33:27In Beijing, Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed India and China as true economic giants.
33:34And from international law point of view, everyone must have equal rights, must be in the similar position.
33:43Yes, there are economic giants like India or China.
33:48And actually, our country is among top four biggest economies.
33:53If we speak about the purchasing power parity, these are the current realities.
33:59Two clashing narratives, but the numbers tell the truth.
34:04India is the world's fastest growing major economy, now the fourth largest,
34:09and on track to hit $7.3 trillion GDP by 2013.
34:16And now, GST 2.0 promises to take the momentum further.
34:21The reform has simplified taxes.
34:24Essentials are in the nil slab.
34:26Most goods at 5% or 80% and a 40% slab reserved for sin goods.
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34:46you will be able to step up to also encontramos in stores.
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34:49around the land of the country culture.
34:52Again to bring the place in investors,
34:56it will beĐŊŅed.
34:58While on top of the world,
35:00all of itself itself says that something troubling,
35:03JST on AC's, TVs, dishwashers cut to 18 percent from 28 percent, a demand booster.
35:20Daily essentials like biscuits, soaps, toothpaste down to 5 percent.
35:25Cement falls to 18 percent, a shot in the arm for India's infrastructure drive.
35:30Fertilizers, tractors, irrigation gear cut to 5 percent.
35:36Direct benefit to farmers and the agricultural economy.
35:42Economists say the move will turbocharge domestic consumption.
35:47For the common person, I think he will have more money in his hand, specifically sectors like farmers, like the education, I would say infrastructure.
35:56They will have, there is more input is given on that.
35:59So, common person will have more money, which is a key driving for the economy.
36:04So, while Donald Trump rants and tariffs rise, India is pushing ahead.
36:09The message is clear.
36:10The Indian economy is not just surviving global shocks, it is shaping the new world order.
36:17Bureau Report, India Today.
36:19And joining me now with the latest on this big India Today special broadcast is Jayan Sinha, former Minister of State for Finance.
36:29Mr. Sinha, welcome.
36:31You were MOS Finance in 2017 when GST was first rolled out.
36:36Your take on the GST rate cut impact.
36:39Will it spur spending ahead of this festival season as expected?
36:44Gaurav, greetings.
36:50Glad to be on your show.
36:52I think we really have to understand this very major and historic reform process in two ways.
36:59First is the reduction in prices across the board for consumers.
37:03And this includes both the staples of daily life, bread, soap, toothpaste, all of that, the necessities, if you will.
37:11But it also includes, you know, comfort items like air conditioners, TVs, cars, things of that sort as well.
37:19And these consumer durables along with the consumer goods that we buy on a day-to-day basis, all of these are going to see price reductions.
37:27And this, of course, is going to be a big boon for consumers and also very beneficial for manufacturers because their demand is going to go up.
37:37They're going to see higher volumes.
37:39They're going to see higher profits as a result of that.
37:41So, that's the first-order impact of this historic reform, which in itself is very, very positive.
37:49However, we should also look at the second-order effects as well.
37:55Okay.
37:56So, you've spoken of this first-order effect on consumers.
37:59But let's, you know, take this forward and talk about the second-order effect.
38:04You know, the impact, for example, on manufacturing or will this help bring down inflation in the long run?
38:12And will these reforms then lead to interest rate cuts too?
38:20Very much so, Gaurav.
38:22I think the second-order impact here in some ways is going to be even more significant.
38:27You've laid out two, I'll add a third one, which is India's resilience, Atmanir Bharta, if you will,
38:33because more supply chains are going to end up becoming more and more domestically centered,
38:39whether we look at it from the point of view of solar panels, batteries, automotive supply chain.
38:45All of those, because of lower GST rates, are going to get more indigenized.
38:49But the two primary second-order impacts, as you have mentioned, number one is going to be in investment,
38:57because what's going to happen is, as we see more demand, particularly for consumer durables like air conditioners,
39:03TVs, washing machines, cars, this is going to spur more investment by manufacturers,
39:09which is very, very powerful because ultimately it's investment that drives jobs and growth.
39:15And that's very, very important, very salient.
39:18And the other aspect of this is, which not everybody has really highlighted as much as they should,
39:24which is really the impact on inflation.
39:26When you have across-the-board price cuts, as it's going to happen with these lower GST dates,
39:34you are going to see an impact on inflation that could well be up to one percentage point.
39:39So if inflation is running at between 3% to 4%, we may very well see inflation now coming down to 2% to 3%.
39:45So when inflation comes down, obviously it gives the RBI the space to be able to further reduce rates.
39:53And when we further reduce rates, that reduces the fiscal burden on the government,
39:58because the government pays out a lot in interest expenses.
40:02And of course, for consumers as well, because their mortgage rates and their EMIs come down,
40:06and disperse further consumption.
40:08So these second-order impacts are very, very powerful.
40:12Sir, when we look at these reforms and the timing of the GST reforms,
40:16are they aimed to cushion the economic blow of the 25% plus additional 25% tariffs imposed on the 27th of August 2025
40:24to boost domestic demand?
40:26And in your view, Mr. Sina, can it offset the massive export disruptions that we see?
40:37It'll more than offset the tariff shock.
40:40So we are going to neutralize that and move forward.
40:43The Honourable Finance Minister has clearly laid out that this is not something that we're doing
40:48in response to what America has done.
40:51We have had these reforms underway for a lengthy period of time.
40:55They've been underway for the last 18 months.
40:58And it was also time to reset GST rates.
41:02That has been discussed for quite some time now.
41:05And so this has been done because for us, for India, for the Honourable Prime Minister,
41:10the Honourable Finance Minister, reforms are a continuous process.
41:14And of course, the reforms in GST when they were first instituted in 2017 were very historic.
41:20And these further reforms now are also going to be very, very important for us.
41:26So it's a continuous process.
41:27We don't do this in response to what other countries are doing.
41:31We are doing this because this is the right thing to do for India.
41:34But permit me to stay a moment on the U.S. tariffs, the additional sanctions, as the Trump administration calls it.
41:43I want to specifically talk about gems and jewellery as a sector or textiles or leather.
41:49What impact will this move have to cushion the impact of the Trump tax here?
41:53Of course, domestic consumption is going to increase.
42:00And so when we look at exports or when we look at manufacturing that is being done for exports, particularly the U.S.,
42:09that demand, if it goes down, that is the U.S. demand goes down,
42:14it can be offset by increased domestic consumption as well as by exporting to other countries.
42:21Both of these will happen because, as I said, domestic consumption obviously will increase when prices are reduced.
42:28And at the same time, our supply chains will become more resilient, more indigenized, enable lower costs for our supply chain,
42:35making us much more competitive from an exports point of view to Europe, to the U.K., to Japan, Korea, and our other trading partners.
42:43So we will be able to deal with all of the disruptions that are happening on the tariff side with the United States,
42:50I think quite successfully with these very powerful steps that have been undertaken.
42:55Okay. So external tariffs apart, internally, sir, states are projecting a revenue loss between 85,000 crore rupees
43:05to some saying it could be as high as 2 lakh crore rupees a year.
43:09How real is that concern?
43:13I don't think it's a real concern.
43:17The government has laid out very clear numbers showing that even though on a historical basis,
43:24that is, if you look at the past year, there will be an impact on revenue of about 1 lakh crores.
43:30That's offset by the fact that a number of goods are going to go into the demerit rate of 40%.
43:36So there will be roughly an increase in revenue of about 45,000, 50,000 crores there.
43:44Okay.
43:44And then you will have a small, about 50,000 crore deficit that will have to be overcome by the states and the centre combined.
43:54But that is a static view.
43:55That is the view looking at the past year.
43:57The economy is dynamic.
43:58And so when you do this kind of analysis, you have to do it on a dynamic basis.
44:02The economy will grow.
44:03Consumption will be boosted.
44:04Investment will go up.
44:05And so dynamically, when you look forward, I think we'll more than make up the revenue loss that we will get from reducing these rates.
44:14And that's the benefit of cutting tax rates.
44:17Sir, before we let you go, Mr. Sinai, I also want to ask you, there are some who say this revenue loss, if it's 40,000 crore rupees or 50,000 crore rupees, does that mean that the government will have less money and then less money to spend on infrastructure?
44:33Is that a real fear, sir?
44:38No, Gaurav.
44:40There are many other ways in which, you know, this revenue deficit, again, which is a notional revenue deficit because it's done on historical calculations.
44:50That's a static view, not a dynamic view.
44:52So first of all, it's not even clear that there will, in fact, dynamically be any revenue loss.
44:57But more than that, the government has many other revenue sources.
45:01So the fiscal deficit number that was laid out in the budget of 4.4 percent, I think we are going to be able to protect that.
45:08We are expecting more surplus money from RBI.
45:10Other tax revenues are quite strong.
45:13So I think the fiscal deficit number of 4.4 percent that was laid out in the budget is going to be protected.
45:19Mr. Jayan Sinha, former Minister of State Finance, for joining me here on this India First special broadcast.
45:27Many thanks.
45:28So there is to be, there will be more money in your pocket to spend 22nd of September onwards.
45:36I mean, the moment Navratri comes in and then, of course, Dhanteras, Dashehra and the Pavli.
45:42So this festive season, there is more reason to celebrate.
45:47Let me now get you an India Today exclusive report.
45:51Months after India's precision strikes at 11 air bases, 6 radar stations and 9 terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
46:03During Operation Sindhur, Pakistan is quietly rebuilding its prized Noor Khan air base,
46:09which was its crucial command and control center near Ravalpindi.
46:14So India today has access fresh satellite images and they show, now there are new walls that are coming up.
46:21There's new groundwork that's happening.
46:23The very site when Indian missiles, as part of Operation Sindhur, wiped out specialized military equipment.
46:30Assets that are believed to be the command and control center of Pakistan Air Force.
46:35Now, this rebuild exercise is a desperate attempt to restore Pakistan's capacity.
46:41But the message is very clear.
46:43India's May 2025 strikes penetrated deep inside Pakistan, hit the heart of Pakistan, including in Pakistan's Punjab province,
46:53and not restricted just to Mureedke and Bahawalpur terrorist headquarters, but crucial bases of Pakistan Air Force.
47:02One thing is very clear, Ravalpindi, that's the headquarters of Pakistan Army, and that's vulnerable.
47:10The Noor Khan Air Base is home to Pakistan's elite VVIP squadron.
47:14It sits just outside Pakistan's capital, Islamabad.
47:17Take a look at these two images that we put out on your television screen.
47:22I want to now quickly cut across to India Today's Ankit Kumar, who explains the difference in the images on the 10th of May and the 4th of September.
47:33Ankit, take it away.
47:34Nearly four months after India targeted one of the most VVIP air bases, Noor Khan Air Base, in Pakistan, the reconstruction work has begun there.
47:46Now, satellite pictures show what it used to look like before the attack.
47:50This is from April 25th.
47:52This portion, this specific part, which has specialized military trucks that many analysts believe acted as the command and control center, the C2 centers for this air base, was targeted.
48:05Now, how do we know it was targeted?
48:07Because we have another imagery which shows this particular center, this particular part, completely destroyed in this picture, which was taken on 10th of May.
48:18Now, after the attack, what happened was that this entire area was cleaned up.
48:24This is from 17th of May.
48:25You can see it was cleaned up.
48:27Even on 26th of July, this area was cleaned up.
48:30But yesterday, that is Wednesday, the pictures can show you new construction, new walls coming up exactly at this particular area.
48:41Why this air base is so important?
48:43Because it is home of number 12 squadron of Pakistan Air Force, which is tasked with flying the VVIPs of Pakistan, the president, the prime minister, their families, even the army chief.
48:55This particular aircraft that you see, this is most likely the same aircraft which was used to fly the army chief Asim Munir from Chaklala, which is the place where this air base is, to the United States in his recent visit.
49:14So, you can see the most VVIP air base in Rawalpindi is now undergoing reconstruction following the Operation Sindhuur impact.
49:28Operation Sindhuur sent across one very clear message to that state sponsor of radical Islamist terror.
49:33India, no part of Pakistan is safe from the Indian missiles, whether it's the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile or an S-400 system, an air defense system, which actually in an offensive role, went and hit a target in the air, 324 kilometers deep inside Pakistan.
49:53That's how strong India is, even when you had Pakistan, Chinese equipment, Chinese satellites and Chinese intelligence assessment and Turkey coming together, India still emerged on top.
50:06That is all I have for you on India First this evening.
50:09Many thanks for watching.
50:10News and updates continue on India Today.
50:12Stay with us.
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