Rahul Gandhi says corporate tax rate cut to bump up stock market for 'Howdy, Modi' event

Contempt case against Rahul Gandhi: The top court pronounced its verdict in the criminal contempt case against Rahul Gandhi for wrongfully attributing the “chowkidaar chor hai” jibe to the court. While the court ended the proceedings against Gandhi, it asked the Congress leader to be more careful in future.

After Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's announcement to slash corporate tax, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on September 20 said that he is amazed at what PM Modi is ready to do for a stock market bump ahead of his Howdy Modi event in Houston, which he termed as the world's most expensive jamboree ever.

Gandhi, who resigned as the Congress President after the party's defeat in the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year, said that "no event can hide the reality of the economic mess Howdy Modi has driven India into".

"Amazing what PM is ready to do for a stock market bump during his #HowdyIndianEconomy jamboree.

"At + 1.4 Lakh Crore Rs. the Houston event is the world's most expensive event, ever! But, no event can hide the reality of the economic mess 'HowdyModi' has driven India into," he said on Twitter.

Amazing what PM is ready to do for a stock market bump during his #HowdyIndianEconomy jamboree.

At + 1.4 Lakh Crore Rs. the Houston event is the world's most expensive event, ever!

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But, no event can hide the reality of the economic mess “HowdyModi” has driven India into.

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) September 20, 2019

The Congress leader's attack comes after the government announced slashing of corporate tax rates for companies by almost 10 percent to 25.17 percent to bring them at par with Asian rivals such as China and South Korea, as it looked to boost demand and investments.

Battling a six-year low economic growth and a 45-year high unemployment rate, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the step two-and-half-months after presenting her maiden Budget, that was hailed as "development-friendly" and "future-oriented".

Sitharaman announced fiscal measures that will cost the government Rs 1.45 lakh crore in revenue annually.

In the fourth phase of post-budget economic stimulus measures, Sitharaman cut base corporate tax for existing companies to 22 percent from current 30 percent and for new manufacturing firms, incorporated after October 1, 2019 and starting operations before March 31, 2023, to 15 percent from current 25 percent.

With inputs from PTI