DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2024, AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES SINCE 1932 `5.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives at Himmatnagar in a chopper on Wednesday. Nirmal Harindran MODI IN GUJARAT Congafakefactory,distributingfake goods,slogans&promises,saysPM BJP gets breather: Kshatriyas won’t protest at Modi events PARIMAL DABHI HIMMATNAGAR, MAY 1 PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi on Wednesday accused the Congress and the INDIA bloc of being a “fake factory” that distributes“fakegoods,fakeslogans and fake promises”. Addressing a huge public rally at Himmatnagar in Sabarkantha district, Modi said, "They have exhausted everything and therefore have started a new karobar (business) of fake video.Theentirebusinessisfake. Nobody is listening to them so, they are showing the face of EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE RAJKOT, MAY 1 Narendra Modi with CM Bhupendra Patel on Wednesday. Nirmal Harindran Modi and putting fake things in his mouth.” The comments come two days after Modi accused the CONTINUEDONPAGE2 AS PRIME Minister Narendra Modi landed in Gujarat on Wednesday for his first Lok Sabha election meeting in the state,therulingBJPgotabreather with protesting Kshatriyas announcingthatindeferencetothe “dignityandrespect”of thePM's office, they would not protest against his campaign. Over `2 lakh cr: Highest monthly GST collection since inception Audits, anti-evasion measures help boost gross GST collections in April AANCHAL MAGAZINE NEW DELHI, MAY 1 GROSS GOODS and Services tax (GST) collections rose 12.4 per cent to touch a record-high of Rs 2.10 lakh crore in April (for yearendsalesinMarch),datareleased bytheUnionFinanceMinistryon Wednesday showed. The increasewasdrivenmainlyby13.4 percentyear-on-yearhigherdomestictransactions,alongwitha higher compliance in the backdrop of anti-evasion measures and audits taken by authorities. Thisisthehighestlevelof GST collectionsrecordedsincetheindirect tax reform kicked in almostsevenyearsagoinJuly2017, andthefirsttimethattheoverall mop-up crossed the Rs 2 lakh croremark.Theprevioushighest levelwasregisteredinApril2023 at Rs 1.87 lakh crore, reflecting year-end sales of March 2023. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 High domestic transactions THE STRONG pickup in gross GST collections was reflective of the year-end momentum that was visible last year too, while audits and investigations by both Central and state GST authorities aided the mop-up. Sustainability of this figure will depend on the consumption demand amid the rising heatwave. BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY The Gujarat Rajput Samaj Organisation’s Coordination Committee (GRSOCC), issued a pressstatementjustaboutwhen Modi was to address a rally in Patan,statingthatithaddecided not to protest against the PM’s rallies in Saurashtra. “Country’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is arriving in Jamnagar tomorrow, May 2, 2024, for addressing an election meeting. In that respect, the CONTINUEDONPAGE2 CM tells PM to cancel Prajwal diplomatic passport; MP seeks a week AKRAM M & KIRAN PARASHAR BENGALURU, MAY 1 KARNATAKA CHIEF Minister Siddaramaiah wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday,urgingtheCentretocancel the diplomatic passport of JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna, who is at the centre of a sexual abuse case, and ensure his return by making use of diplomatic and police channels. The letter came even as Prajwal, the grandson of JD(S) founder and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, sought seven days to appear before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to probe the allegations ofsexualabuseagainsthim.Italso came on a day the SIT issued noticestothe33-year-oldleaderand his father H D Revanna, who are named as accused based on the complaint of one of the women. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 GUJARAT EXPRESS NETWORK PANIC IN DELHI NCR AS SCHOOLS GET BOMB THREAT EMAIL PAGE 12 President Droupadi Murmu offers prayers at the Ram temple in Ayodhya on Wednesday. ANI PAGE12 CONGRESS SLAMS CENTRE FOR NOT MAINTAINING DATA OF PEOPLE WHO TOOK COVID VACCINE PAGE 3 In this corner of UP, Akhilesh & Dimple pick up the baton, and Mulayam’s legacy PAGE 1 ANCHOR LALMANI VERMA MAINPURI, KANNAUJ, MAY 1 SAMAJWADI PARTY chief AkhileshYadavhasalotatstakein the coming Lok Sabha elections. Politics is just one part of it. From two seats in the coming two phases,AkhileshandwifeDimple are contesting. Both these con- Dimple Yadav campaigns in Mainpuri. Lalmani Verma stituencies — Kannauj and Mainpuri,respectively—hadbeen won in the past by SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav. As Akhilesh tries to fill his late father’s shoes, the result in these two adjoining constituencies, whichhehaschosentokeepclose home, will be closely tracked to see how far he has come. In2019,Dimplehadlostfrom Kannauj, later winning the Mainpuri seat held by Mulayam CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Ahmedabad
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