BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya makes misleading claims on Telangana poll stats, GST  

Amit Malviya

In the aftermath of the recently concluded assembly elections in five states – Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram – in which the BJP suffered defeat, the BJP IT cell head, Amit Malviya, on Sunday, tweeted that BJP, despite having a 7% vote share in Telangana managed to win just one seat, whereas the Owaisi led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen with a vote share of merely 2.7% bagged 7 seats in the election.

In Telangana, AIMIM with just 2.7% vote share won 7 seats but BJP with 7% got just won. Let that sink in.

— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) December 23, 2018

While the numbers tweeted by Malviya were correct, the claim was misleading. This is because while the AIMIM had a vote share of 2.7%, the party had contested on merely 8 seats, of which it won 7. On the other hand, BJP had contested 118 out of 119 seats in the state assembly. AIMIM thus has a far superior strike rate of 87.5% (7 out of 8) in comparison to the BJP’s dismal strike rate of 0.85% (1 out of 118). The complete details are available on the website of the Election Commission.

Malviya misleads on GST

The BJP IT cell head also tweeted another misleading fact on the same day. In a tweet on Sunday, he said: “Today is Sunday. A film and meal with the family have never been this affordable! – Tax on restaurant bill reduced to 5% instead of steep 30% earlier – Movie ticket taxed at 12% (up to Rs 100 or 18% for over 100), down from 28% earlier Middle class has never had it this good.”

Today is Sunday.

A film and meal with the family has never been this affordable!

- Tax on restaurant bill reduced to 5% instead of steep 30% earlier
- Movie ticket taxed at 12% (up to Rs 100 or 18% for over 100), down from 28% earlier

Middle class has never had it this good...

— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) December 23, 2018

Referring to the decision by the GST council to reduce tax rates on over 20 goods and services, Malviya in his exuberance conveniently omitted the fact that the rates will be effective from January 1, 2019, and not from Sunday i.e. December 23. Malviya was contradicted by none other than his party, the BJP, which tweeted an infographic that said that the new rates will be applicable from January 1.

(Courtesy: Alt News)