Gogoi to be CM candidate in Assam polls: Rahul

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Majeed Memon said he did not think that the president and vice president of Congress party ever denied respecting the order of the Court.

The NDA government, he said, has been able to bring about a consensus in the first six months. The UPA, which had in 2006 mooted the GST, had failed to build consensus amongst the states over issues such as loss of revenue to manufacturing states like Tamil Nadu and Gujarat as the new regime was more a destination oriented tax. “It is nothing to do with it”, Sibal said speaking at the “Aaj Tak Agenda” programme here.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had also said that the Congress was stalling the proceedings of the Parliament to block the GST Bill.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Gujarat Chief Minister had faced the charges against him and even “grilling by SIT” in a dignified manner and BJP had not disrupted Parliament then.

A key government committee, headed by Chief Economic Advisory (CEA) Arvind Subramanian, has suggested a standard GST rate of 17-18 percent, increasing chances of a consensus on the key reform so that the constitutional amendment that it entails can get passed in the current winter session as the clock ticks down to the April 1 deadline. JD (U) leader KC Tyagi also blamed the arrogance of the ruling government and called it a big reason of the Parliament logjam. We have given them three suggestions on GST. Made empty promises. “When people of Bihar saw and heard him, they said “Modi you go back to Delhi”. He is giving a sort of indication to the I-T department that you send notice. “The government does not interfere”, he said. “It is nothing to do with it”, said Sibal.

“There was no cheating in National Herald case”.

On allegations that shareholders like Shanti Bhushan and Justice Markandey Katju were taken for a ride, he claimed the former Supreme Court judge had never applied to become a shareholder.

To break the ongoing deadlock between the government and the opposition over passage of the GST Bill, which is stuck in the Rajya Sabha where the government does not have a majority, Jaitley will be meeting Congress leaders on Monday. “So they are blaming us for delaying it. The truth is they don’t want it”, he said.