Willing to discuss issue of so called ‘intolerance’: Venkaiah Naidu

Talking to the media after the BJP Parliamentary Party executive and NDA allies meeting in New Delhi last evening, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu said that the government has nothing to hide and feel shy about the issue as it is a state subject. Gandhi said the Congress would also raise the issue of communal intolerance in the forthcoming session. “Government has nothing to feel shy about it”, Naidu said after an all-party meeting convened and chaired by Speaker of Lok Sabha Sumitra Mahajan. “The opposition unity will be for everyone to see”, said Soni.

He said the government and its allies know that the opposition has issues and it could try to disrupt the proceedings of the house.

CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury, however, said that the Centre should hold talks with states on the issue of GST in view of the fact that they will lose all legislative power on tax matters once GST comes into force.

“Questioned why the GST bill was being stalled, he said it was Congress which brought it forward and “…we are for GST…we support GST…”

The bill has passed the lower house of parliament, but has been blocked in the upper house where Modi’s coalition lacks a majority.

In a move that may end the political deadlock over the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill, the government today indicated that an overall consensus has been reached on the same. Undoubtedly, the government will have to improve its floor management and reach out to the opposition in order to ensure smooth functioning of both houses of Parliament. The empowered committee of state finance ministers has to work out the rate and we are awaiting some inputs before doing that.

At the meeting, Trinamool Congress made a strong plea for the functioning of Parliament with Kalyan Banerjee saying that bills have been stuck in Rajya Sabha and the repeated disruptions during the monsoon session had led to a waste of time and resources.

The broad topic listed for discussion – “Commitment to India’s Constitution” – has given enough scope to the opposition to come out all guns blazing to pin down the Modi government on the intolerance debate.

Accusing the NDA Government of not incorporating the changes suggested by the opposition in the GST Bill, Congress leader PL. Punia on Wednesday said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has made it a prestige issue. “Government willing to discuss issue of so called intolerance”, he told reporters this morning. “It was a blessing in disguise for the government; when Parliament is going to rock on the issue of intolerance the government obviously would not like to reveal all details in advance”, said a member of Parliament.

It had raised speculation that they might have discussed the GST issue. KC Tyagi, “Only discussion, passing resolution and PM ” s intervention won’t do.

“We are looking for some legal reforms whether it is GST or real estate bill”.