In a major breakthrough for the Modi Government, the Congress has agreed to a five-hour debate on the GST Bill though no date has been fixed for introducing the Bill for consideration.
After the BJP Parliamentary Party meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the Government will talk to all parties on the GST and seek a consensus for its passage. Congress leaders in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma are slated to meet Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday. “We will talk to all parties on the GST and seek a consensus for its passage,” said the Prime Minister.
Sources said that top leadership of the Congress has allowed its leaders to “negotiate a compromise on the GST since other Opposition parties have taken a different line. The Business Advisory Committee (BAC) of Parliament in its meeting on Monday allocated five-hour debate or discussion on the GST. However, no date and schedule have been fixed.
Other parties like the JD(U), the RJD, the TMC, the BJD, the Samajwadi Party as well as the BSP have extended their support to the Bill. The CPI(M) and the AIADMK have, however, expressed certain reservations. On the first day of the Monsoon Session, while the Government indicated it was willing to accommodate most of those changes, the Congress said it was never against the GST per se but only opposed some of its provision.
“We are in favour of the GST, we want to give a GST, which is meaningful, which brings down India’s transaction cost, makes our industrial produce globally competitive, brings down the burden on the Indian consumers and the producer i.e. the industry. That is the objective,” said Deputy leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha
Sharma said that unlike the present ruling dispensation which opposed it for partisan politics, the Congress has principled stand on issues. “And that is why we are now engaged constructively and you will get to know as and when there is a forward movement after the next formal meeting,” Sharma said, indicating of an imminent breakthrough.
“At no such stage, the Congress said that we will oppose the GST. We have raised issues, those have been registered with the Government and if there are negotiations when you negotiate, it is very clear that your intention and the sincere one is to find a solution in a genuine spirit of accommodation and we hope that the Government recognises the justification of our raising those issues including a mechanism to address the disputes,” Sharma added.
The Congress had raised objections to three points in the proposed Bill. The party wants an 18 per cent cap on the tax to be levied, the scrapping of the proposal to levy an additional one per cent tax and wants the formation of a GST disputes settlement authority specified in the bill.
However, with the NDA Government now appearing to have managed to gain the support of several other opposition parties, the Congress may go easy on the 18 per cent cap on tax.
Sharma also indicated that the Congress may not insist on inclusion of the tax cap, but the Government would have to suggest ways for legal ring-fencing of the rate.
Speaking to reporters outside Parliament House on Monday, newly elected member to the Rajya Sabha and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram said talks are on with the Government and Finance Minister has promised to return with ‘concrete proposals’.”let us see the draft which they bring, and we will respond,” Chidambaram said.