Banerjee took to X on Thursday, writing, “Our demand to the Government of India is to roll back GST from life insurance and medical insurance premium on the grounds of people’s health imperatives. This GST is bad because it adversely affects the people’s ability to take care of their basic vital needs.”

She added that she will “hit the road” if the “anti-people GST” is not repealed from insurance costs.

Four days ago, Union Minister of Road, Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari had urged Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to remove the GST on life and medical insurance premiums, saying it leads to “levying taxes on the uncertainties of life”.

“(The tax) becomes cumbersome for the senior citizens,” Gadkari wrote, in a letter to Sitharaman on July 28. According to him, the tax on these premiums is also “restricting the growth of the industry”.

Currently, 18 percent GST is charged on life and medical insurance premiums.

Earlier, Mamata Banerjee sharply criticised the Union Budget, during the announcement of which Sitharaman had termed GST a “success of vast proportions” that decreased tax incidence on “common men” — with the Chief Minister saying “it is an anti-poor budget.”

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