GST: BJP-Congress talks make little headway

On the eve of the monsoon session of Parliament, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar walked right into the Parliament chamber of Ghulam Nabi Azad, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, to build a consensus on the GST legislation.

Amendments proposed by the Congress include the precondition of fixing an 18% cap and providing for adjudication of disputes through a third party arbitrator.

The government has, instead, proposed that the ceiling could be incorporated in the Annexure to the Bill or in the subsequent GST enabling legislation that would require a simple majority in Parliament for enactment. This provision can be put only in the main bill.

“It was decided that the federalism debate – in the backdrop of the Arunachal and Uttarkhand developments – will certainly be raised during Parliament’s monsoon session along with other matters such as the ” government’s mishandling” of the Kashmir situation.

If the rate is included in the constitutional amendment itself, then it can not be changed later, the Congress has argued.

Asked whether the new environment minister Anil Madhav Dave approached his party to resolve the issue, Ramesh said, “The new minister has not reached out (to his party)” – an indication of the deadlock when even the left parties and JD (U) had opposed to the CAF bill in its present form.

This session also happens to be first since Prime Minister Narendra Modi carried out the reshuffle.

Apart from GST, a total of 45 bills are pending in the Rajya Sabha, while 11 bills are pending before the Lok Sabha. The Central government is all out to capitalise on the Congress’s willingness to look afresh at the Goods and Services Tax Bill by reaching out, literally, to the principal Opposition party.

Azad, who is leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, said this was a preliminary meeting where the two sides presented their points of view and will meet again after discussions with the respective leaderships of government and Congress. The government floor managers believe there is more or less consensus on the bill from the key regional parties like Trinamool Congress, Janata Dal-United and Samajwadi Party. Both Congress leaders assured Naidu that they will get back to him soon after consultations within their party.

In a House of 245 members, BJP (74 seats) along with SP (19), AIADMK (12), TMC (12) and BJD (7) will be managing to get support from 124 MPs.

The government will also have to replace an ordinance that was promulgated to amend the Enemy Property Act as well as another one on the National Eligibility-cum Entrance Test (NEET), government sources said.