Bihar government has levied a luxury tax on samosa

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar may want to have a word with British PM David Cameron and Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne about his government’s move to impose a 13.5% value-added tax on north India’s favourite snack, samosas. The duo still have not been able to live down ‘Pastygate’ — the abortive move in 2012 to impose 20% tax on hot Cornish pasties, the larger English version of the samosa — which was posited as evidence of how out of touch the Conservative government had become. Taxing the crispy, savoury pasty may bring in a significant amount of dough for the state coffers, but may elicit a similar reaction in Bihar. After all, samosa consumers may not appreciate this extra crunch on personal finances and take to the streets. Indeed, chances of them taking it in the right spirit are slim given that Prohibition will also come into effect in the state from April, thanks to the chief minister’s initiative.

The question is whether this ill-advised imposition could eventually cause a rift in the ruling alliance given that the stuff of the samosa’s filling, the potato, has often been cited by his new ally Lalu Prasad Yadav as a metaphor for his own ubiquity. Any decline in its demand could well be used by the opponents of the state’s ruling alliance as evidence of the crumbling popularity of the bigger partner.