RSS and Swadeshi Jagran Manch red-flagged GST bill, claims Congress

Dated 14th December, 2015

Senior Congress leaders, including the Gandhis, on Sunday held a meeting to firm up the party's floor strategy in Parliament this week as well as to discuss the informal feedback from the government side on the party's three conditions for passing the GST bill. While party leaders, according to sources, decided the Congress would remain "open to the idea of any further constructive discussions with the government", the AICC felt the real issue was "opposition to the bill from the RSS and Swadeshi Jagran Manch" that have "red-flagged the GST bill". 

Ahead of Sunday's meeting, finance minister Arun Jaitley is learnt to have once again informally reached out to some senior Congress leaders. "If Mr Jaitley, or anybody from the government, wants a meeting with us on Monday or any other day, we are open to that idea," said a senior leader. 

Congress spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala said: "It is, in fact, the RSS and Swadeshi Jagran Manch that have red-flagged the GST bill, and the PM and the FM, unable to withstand the RSS, are only trying to pass the blame on to the Congress. Otherwise, everybody knows what the Congress has suggested to the government is not something irrational. The real issue is the RSS and SJM feel the GST will lead to some kind of initial rise in inflation and that will affect BJP's chances in the next round of polls." 

While the government has already indicated its readiness to drop the 1% inter-state tax, the issue of Congress demand to cap GST rate at 18% is being resisted from the government side, which has been reportedly talking of rather looking at the option of putting a cap in the supplementary bill of GST. 

(This article is published in The Economic Times on 14 Dec, 2015)