Congress Party is for GST: Rahul Gandhi

NCP leader Tariq Anwar said their party supports the GST Bill provided the amendments suggested by the Opposition were incorporated into the legislation. The view in the government is that there was no reason for it to be defensive in these matters but at the same time it should be ready to discuss them if the Opposition insists for the same.

The government countered Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, saying that it had reached out to the Opposition.

“We are open for discussions. For us each legislation is important”, was the refrain of Azad and Kharge. “We have absolutely no hesitation even at the level of Prime Minister, we have never had in it in the past, we don’t have it (now)”. He appealed to all parties to enable passing of GST.

The Congress has already said it would seek a debate on the issue of intolerance during the upcoming session of Parliament. Anwar added the government should look into issues being raised by the Opposition.

Some states ruled by regional parties, including Bihar where Modi’s BJP lost badly in an election this month, have assured their support for the Bill but analysts doubt that tempers can cool quickly enough for progress to be made.

“We have nothing to hide”.

Asked about debate on “rising intolerance” particularly in the context of controversial remarks of Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan, he said “blanket attack” does not give any solution. “He is willing to speak to everyone”, he said.

The proposed goods and services tax (GST) should be set at a rate of less than 20 %, the opposition Congress party said on Thursday, signalling willingness to compromise as long as the government takes into account its concerns. I am very confident that GST will be passed, Modi said. It is now stuck in the Rajya Sabha. There should be a mechanism to address the issues between states. If the bill is referred to the select committee, the Centre may not be in a position to pass the bill during the winter session. At present, the moral of the party workers is down as the devoted party workers are neither getting proper placement in the organisation nor in the Government. The legislative agenda for the session includes over 30 bills, which are either pending or slated to be introduced.

Besides there are bills passed by one House and pending in the other including the crucial GST bill (The Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill, 2014 regarding introduction of GST), as passed by Lok Sabha. The government is also keen on passage of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill.

Even though these bills, several of which warrant urgent attention of the law-makers, have been waiting for Parliament’s final nod, no bills related to pharma and health sectors were discussed during the monsoon session of Parliament which began on July 21 and continued to sit till August 13.

The Govt is going as per the constituition of India and would continue to do so.