Govt in talks with opposition for GST passage in Winter Session

The government is reaching out to parties in the opposition on the much-delayed goods and services tax – including looking at the possibility of incorporating a few of the changes proposed by the Congress – as it seeks to ensure passage of the Constitution amendment bill during the winter session of Parliament.

Terming GST as the “need of the hour”, Naidu said: “GST should be passed in the Winter Session of Parliament”.

The minister said that the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2013 and the Whistle Blowers Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2015 would help in fight against corruption and he was hopeful that the opposition would support the government on these bills rising above party politics. The National Democratic Alliance government of Narendra Modi will be more vulnerable to Opposition attacks and stalling tactics in the Rajya Sabha, where it is in a hopeless minority and has to depend on the Congress party to get its legislative business approved.

With opposition parties buoyant after NDA’s drubbing in Bihar, senior JD(U) leaders have said they will take a final call only after consulting other parties. Adding that it is a great opportunity for India, he said that we should take the initiative and make Indian economy more strong so that interest rates can come down and you can spend more on welfare and developmental activities.

The Goods and Services Tax (GST), which will subsume more than a dozen state levies to create a single market, is to be implemented from April 1, 2016. The committee is expected to give its report on December 4 or 5 on the GST rate, among other things.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s hope that Janata Dal (United) of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, which had earlier supported the GST Bill, would continue to support its endeavour is unlikely to materialize. We have finalised the parameters that will be necessary to establish the rates.

The Congress said it has no objection to the bill getting cleared by the Rajya Sabha if three conditions – GST rate, one per cent additional tax and inclusion of petroleum and liquor-are resolved.

He said that the Centre was ready for a detailed and positive discussion on all the issues concerning the common man of the country.

The Winter session of Parliament appears all set to begin on cold notes, with signs of government-opposition confrontation likely to surface in the first two days of special session on the Constitution and its architect BR Ambedkar.

Top sources in the Congress today said that the party has also not given up on its demand for resignation of Union ministers Sushma Swaraj on the “Lalitgate” issue and that of Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Vyapam scam.