GST Logjam, Naidu meets Sonia
GST Logjam, Naidu meets Sonia
New Delhi,7 January. Hinting at an early budget session, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday met Congress president Sonia Gandhi seeking cooperation on the GST Bill. Met Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh over Goods and Services Tax (GST) issue. They had raised some issues which have been addressed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Naidu told the reporters after the meeting. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sources said the leaders discussed the GST Bill and Real Estate Bill. Naidu also said the government was willing to call for an early budget session if required. Naidu drove down to the residence of Gandhi at 10, Janpath here early today and held discussions with her for about 20 minutes during which the Congress President is learnt to have asked him about the government’s view on the three main suggestions given by the Congress on GST. Sources said Naidu told Gandhi that issues raised by the Congress in respect of GST bill were considered by the government and the government’s position was communicated to Congress leaders earlier. Regarding the Real Estate bill, Naidu told Gandhi that as decided by Congress and other parties, the Bill was referred to a select committee of Rajya Sabha and the government had accepted almost all recommendations of the committee. Naidu told the Congress President that if required, the government will like to advance the Budget session of Parliament for early passage of these bills if political parties agree to it. The Congress President is learnt to have told Naidu that she will get back to him after consultations with her party leaders.The Constitution Amendment bill to roll out GST is stuck in the Rajya Sabha where the ruling NDA does not have a majority of its own. The bill is being opposed by Congress although many other opposition parties are on board. Venkaiah later told reporters that he met Gandhi in his capacity as the Parliamentary Affairs Minister and that he asked the Congress President to take a final stand on the two pending bills.He said the government has already spoken to Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma in this regard. I reminded her (about Congress taking a decision on the issue after meeting the Prime Minister) and asked her to take a quick decision on GST and Real Estate bill, he said. Congress is seeking three changes in the bill, including a constitutional cap on the GST rate, to support it. The other two changes sought by Congress in the GST bill are removal of one per cent additional tax on inter-state transfer of goods and a Supreme Court judge headed dispute resolution panel. GST, which seeks to simplify and harmonise the indirect tax regime across the country with a single uniform rate, has been stuck for many years in a political gridlock. While the previous UPA regime failed to get it passed in Parliament due to opposition from the BJP and some other parties, Congress has now refused to support the bill proposed by the NDA government in its present form.
