MUMBAI: Shiv Sena will oppose the Goods and Services Tax (GST) if it threatens BMC’s financial autonomy, Uddhav Thackeray said on Thursday.

"We will have to rethink on GST if the Mumbai municipal corporation has to go to the Centre with a begging bowl," Thackeray told a meeting of Shiv Sena MLAs and MLCs.

The conclave was held to discuss GST’s financial and administrative implications. "The Sena will not remain quiet if GST is going to weaken the Mumbai civic body’s autonomy," he told mediapersons.

Thackeray also instructed party legislators to be prepared for the next state assembly election, sources said.

Thackeray’s statement is an indication that his party would take a tough stance on GST when it comes up for debate at a special session of the Maharashtra state legislature in Mumbai on May 20.

The Sena is worried, and not without reason, say municipal analysts, that BJP may eventually use GST as a ploy to tighten screws on the Sena which rules the Mumbai municipal corporation. Sena-BJP ties hit an all-time low in the run-up to the Mumbai civic elections in February. The Sena snapped ties with BJP, triggering acrimony and ample mud-slinging during the civic poll campaign.

Earlier, scores of Sena legislators told Thackeray that the octroi system helped authorities keep strict vigil on the city’s main entry points. This may not happen once GST comes into practice, they pointed out.

Thackeray asked party legislators to rebond with rural constituencies to revamp the Sena across the state. Thackeray will flag off the Sena’s mass contact campaign with a public meeting in Aurangabad on May 7. Similar jamborees will be held in western Maharashtra, Konkan and Vidarbha, according to party sources.

 06 May 2017, 01:50 PM