Overview
- After meeting a delegation of small and medium ice cream manufacturers during the Winter Session, Gandhi said their complaints reflect a broader squeeze on small businesses.
- Gandhi alleged that ice cream producers were deliberately excluded from the GST composition scheme and face rising state and municipal fees, leading to closures and vanishing stalls at places like India Gate.
- He claimed only industrialists favored by the prime minister who finance the BJP continue to thrive, naming Adani and Ambani as emblematic beneficiaries.
- He urged that control of the economy be placed back with MSMEs to spur jobs, expand affordable consumer choices and make small firms equal partners in growth.
- He noted he had raised monopoly concerns earlier this month in the context of IndiGo’s disruptions, and no government rebuttal or policy response was reported on Wednesday.