Early Times Report
Jammu, Sept 17: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has waded into one of the most politically charged economic debates of the season, throwing his weight behind the newly proposed 0.4 per cent Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on person-to-merchant UPI payments above Rs 2,000 — a move that puts him squarely at odds with his own coalition ally, the Congress.
The National Conference leader’s endorsement comes at an awkward moment for the ruling alliance. While Congress has been on the offensive, branding the UPI charge “anti-national” and “anti-people” and accusing the Centre of caving to pressure from US President Donald Trump to benefit American payment players like Walmart, Google and Amazon, Abdullah chose to strike a starkly different note.
“We don’t appreciate what we get for free,” the Chief Minister told reporters, defending the charge with characteristic bluntness. He was quick to clarify the fine print: person-to-person transfers remain untouched, and ordinary consumers will only feel the pinch once they cross a specified threshold. “Not everyone is charged... individual consumers will not be charged unless they cross a certain ceiling limit,” he said.
Abdullah’s real argument, though, was about the economics behind the scenes. Running a payments network the scale of UPI, he suggested, doesn’t come free — someone has to foot the bill. “It takes a lot of money to run it,” he said, making the case that a modest fee is a reasonable price for a system Indians have long taken for granted.
The remarks land just days after Abdullah handed the Modi government a rare compliment from an opposition-aligned leader, calling the BRICS New Delhi Declaration’s explicit condemnation of the Pakistan-backed Pahalgam terror attack a genuine diplomatic win. Speaking after the 18th BRICS Summit — which drew heavyweights including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin to the capital — Abdullah said the very fact that Pahalgam was named in the declaration spoke volumes given the room it was negotiated in.
“Please see how many allies of Pakistan were in that room. Therefore, for even Pahalgam to be mentioned by name, that in itself is a success of our foreign policy,” he said, crediting South Block for pulling off what he called no small feat.
He also welcomed early signs of de-escalation along India’s northern frontiers, pointing to the defence ministry’s latest assessment of the operational situation and noting that any troop drawdown along the Line of Control or Line of Actual Control would offer genuine relief to border residents living with daily hostilities. “We know that living near the LoC or LAC is extremely difficult for people... over time, things will also get better along the Line of Control,” he added.
But Abdullah’s enthusiasm isn’t shared evenly within his own alliance. Congress remains visibly divided over the summit’s worth — Shashi Tharoor hailed it as a major diplomatic opportunity for India, while veteran leader P Chidambaram was openly dismissive, arguing the last several BRICS summits produced little of substance. “We are part of BRICS, we are part of SCO, we are part of G20, and we are part of Quad. What benefits are we getting out of that? I can’t see,” Chidambaram said.
That internal Congress split has already handed the BJP an opening, with the party accusing Congress of talking down an event it claims cemented India’s global standing — a charge made only more pointed by Abdullah’s own unequivocal praise for the summit, exposing a widening gap in messaging between the NC and its Congress partner on matters of national policy. |