“Narendra Modi is indeed a problem for the Congress Party. It is precisely for this reason that the Congress/UPA has used every method, fair or foul to counter him. They are still at sea how to deal with him,” Jaitley, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, said.
The notices said “as the entry tickets to the event were not for any admission to entertainment event or access to amusement facilities (which are in the negative list), the same is taxable in the hands of person collecting the amount on tickets”.
The DGCEI, in its letter, had cited media reports claiming that money was being charged from people who attended the rallies of Modi. The department, which comes under Finance Ministry, took cognizance and raised a demand about the non-payment of service tax.
The department cited section 14 of the Central Excise Act, 1944, for raising the demand. Under this Act, the department has the power to summon persons to give evidence and produce documents in inquiries being conducted under its provisions. Jaitley said while there were no tickets for Modi's rallies, the BJP has launched a massive fund collection campaign and its cadre collected it either at rallies or elsewhere in the country.
“Our effort is to reach 10 crore households for fund collection,” he said and asked whether such notice for collecting funds is only being issued to the BJP or to other political parties, particularly the Congress Party.
