The Congress' Mumbai unit on Wednesday asked Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan to refrain from acting as the brand ambassador for the Goods & Services Tax (GST).
"Both prime minister and finance minister know that the government is not ready nor does it have the infrastructure to roll out GST. That's why it is using a legend like Amitabh Bachchan so that he becomes the fall guy and has to face the brickbats," Mumbai Congress president Sanjay Nirupam said in a statement.
Nirupam noted that he had the utmost respect for the superstar and hence "wanted to caution him" against being used by government on the issue of GST.
"The idea was 'one country, one tax,' but what is being rolled out is one country and at least four taxes. Why are Indians being fooled? And why use an icon and his credibility to fool them," he said.
According to some reports, the actor has responded on social media, saying he was asked to do it and so he did it.
The actor appears in a 40-second video released by the government on GST where he explains the various benefits of the new tax regime coming up next month.
