Politicians are leaving no stone unturned before hurling abuses, in some cases gross in political rallies primarily to influence the voters. However, those who have braced not so long ago the aftermath of demonetisation and the hurried implementation of the Goods and Service Taxes (GST) which were implemented in the midnight will remember those days before exercising their franchise.
Former Union Finance Minister of India Yashwant Sinha while talking to Herald over the phone said, “There will be a good impact of demonetisation and flawed GST this elections and that is why Prime Minister is raising so many non-issues in his election speeches so that voters’ attention is diverted from the suffering they underwent. Also, caste is going to yet again play a major role this election.”
Back home, people who understand economy and politics also had their say too. Manoj Caculo, Managing Director of the Caculo Group is of the opinion that demonetisation or GST will not have much impact of the elections. He informed Herald that, “Demonetisation took place almost about two-and-half years ago and I do not think it will have any impact now as it is gone and forgotten by the people. As far as GST is concerned it began about one-and-half year ago and was a very progressive move by the government. Initially, there was some bickering but down the line so much positive changes have been brought about including simplification and the rates have been rationalised for the interests of the trade and consumers. Personally, I do not think that GST too will have any impact on the voter.”
Real Estate business probably tops the list of the most affected industry during the era of demonetisation, GST and RERA. Former CREDAI President in Goa Desh Prabhudesai, while speaking to Herald said, “These are too meager an issue and election is too big. Elections are not fought on such small issues and it will not directly impact the voters. Only those who are affected personally may use their tool of vote but it will not be good enough to change the scenario. GST may have some impact but it will not be much. The impact may be felt on the fence-sitters which will be a very small number to affect the over-all result.”
All India President of MAIT and former President of Goa Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Nitin Kunkolienker felt that both demonetisation and GST has helped the economy of India in the long run. “The liquidity in the market has been arrested and the use of cash during elections was very high which may not happen now to the extent which was witnessed in 2014 election. People with muscle and money power used to dominate the election but now the impact will be positive in terms of honest and fair election. Also, with GST the cash flow can easily be tracked and people will avoid indulging in activities which may land them in to legal problems. It is going to be a very different election due to demonetisation and entry of large number of youth as electorate in the country,” said Nitin Kunkolienker.
Vinay Bhasin, real estate entrepreneur and founder of Palacio Group believes that demonetisation will definitely have an impact on this election. “It has impacted different strata of society differently and will therefore affect the voters’ choices but the exact impact can only be gauged after the results are declared. GST is a great concept because it has subsumed many different taxes into one tax, making it simpler for all. But as all parties are pro-GST and only differ in rates and its implementation, it might not affect the voting too much,” said Vinay Bhasin.
Sandhya Kini Mayenkar a woman entrepreneur from Caranzalem, believes that the debate around demonetisation and GST may continue in the public domain and people may have had initial issues with these two major decisions on cleaning the economy but it may not be the factor to influence the voting preference. “There were dips in the profit margin of the business post demonetisation and GST; but now the urban educated masses have digested both these major economic reforms and have realized that the boldest of all PM Narendra Modi’s decisions has not only filtered out the black money but has also seen a substantial rise in the banking and tax regime. It will impact very positively for the government which took such bold decision,” added Sandhya Kini Mayenkar.
Yet another promising woman entrepreneur from Mapusa, Rushali Samant believes that personally GST and demonetisation never affected her as she was paying her taxes. “I do not think that there will be any impact of demonetisation or GST in the Lok Sabha elections as the present government has taken a bold decision and whichever government comes to power next will have to follow the same and take it forward with more reforms,” said Rushali Samant.
