Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman 'wrong' in claiming GST of all states cleared, says P Chidambaram

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Wednesday said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is "wrong" in claiming that GST dues of states have been cleared and cited the example of Congress-ruled Rajasthan, Punjab and Chhattisgarh.

Citing an interview given by Sitharaman, he said the finance minister "angrily rebuffed the interviewer and snapped: 'What dues, I have cleared the GST (Goods and Services Tax) dues of all states'".

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"The FM was wrong. The anger was unjustified," the former Union finance minister said in a statement.

Chidambaram said he has gathered data about GST dues from three states which stand at Rs 7,393 crore for Punjab as on June 1, 2021, Rs. 7,142 crore for Rajasthan as on May 21 and Rs 3,069 crore for Chhattisgarh as on June 1.

"I am trying to gather data from other states," he said.

Opposition-ruled states have been at loggerheads with the Centre over GST dues in the past also and have demanded that they be paid at the earliest so that they can keep funding pandemic-related spending.