Congress and government to clear logjam over GST Bill

Dated 15th December, 2015

On Monday decided to hold further discussions between central government and the opposition Congress  to clear the logjam over the Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill, and on how to secure its passage in the winter session of parliament.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Vekaiah Naidu and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley met Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma and Jyotiraditya Scindia on the GST bill which is stuck in the Rajya Sabha as the government does not have majority in the house, sources said.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also joined the discussion later, they said.

The sources said that after the hour-long meeting over lunch, the two sides decided to continue talks.

The Congress demands include a cap on the GST rate at 18 percent, deletion of the provision which allows imposition of 1 percent tax by additional levy and an independent dispute resolution mechanism.

Senior Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge decided to hold a second meeting with the government to arrive at a decision on the bill.

Sources said the government had also reached out to Congress leaders over telephone on the GST bill prior to the meeting between the two sides.

They said the issue had gone beyond technicalities and "gone more into political domain".

Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma later told newspersons that the discussion over the GST bill was "informal" as Kharge was not present.

He said it was the first such reach out from the government to the leaders of opposition within parliament in the past 18 months.

Indicating that the party was in no hurry to lend its support to the GST bill, he said the bill was delayed by the BJP during the UPA government but the economy did not go into deep freeze.

He said the Congress conveyed to the government that Kharge was busy with local polls in Karanataka and it would be proper to have formal discussions after his return.

"Today's talks remain inconclusive. It is a work in progress. There was no structured discussion today," Sharma said on Monday noting that it was the first such meeting after Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached out to Congress President Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

He insisted, "Engagement between Government and Opposition cannot be restricted to one issue. After not engaging Opposition for 18 months, Government is desperate to discuss with us just one bill. First they should not be over-obsessed with one bill as other important legislations are also pending."

Meanwhile, Jaitley slammed the Congress for disrupting parliament, reminding it of the legacy of India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

"Those who claim the legacy of Pandit ji must ask themselves the question, what kind of history are they making?" Jaitley said in a Facebook post.

Meanwhile, Jaitley apprehended a "washout" of the current Winter- session and attacked Congress over the disruption.