New Delhi, Aug. 19 -- From the ramparts of the Red Fort this Independence Day on August 15, Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered Indians a pledge of liberation - not from colonial rule, but from the labyrinthine tax system his government created eight years earlier.

In 2017, Modi convened a rare midnight session of parliament, consciously echoing Jawaharlal Nehru's 1947 "tryst with destiny" speech, to inaugurate the Goods and Services Tax.

Billed as a "Good and Simple Tax," it quickly devolved into a sprawling structure of five slabs, countless exemptions and frequent disputes.

A Diwali Gift for Indians?

Now, Modi is seeking redemption. By Diwali, he has promised to introduce "next generation" GST reforms, collapsing five slabs into t...