Fate of GST Bill depends on ‘intolerance’ debate

The Congress has decided not to engage with the ruling BJP on the contentious Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill until the issue of “intolerance” is debated in Parliament from Monday.

The decision to loosen up its demands or resist the Bill will depends upon whether the Congress will come out looking good from the “intolerance” debate, a senior leader told The Hindu .

The Congress’s demands are that the tax cap be fixed at 18 per cent, the 1 per cent inter-State cess be scrapped and independent accountability be ensured. “The debate on intolerance will be crucial, and it has a potential to break whatever little [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi achieved at his meeting with our president [Sonia Gandhi],” he said.

Soon after Mr. Modi and Ms. Gandhi had a meeting on the Bill, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi chaired a meeting at his residence. It was attended by senior leader Anand Sharma, the former Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, and Mallikarjun Kharge, who is leading the party in the Lok Sabha.

Though several newspapers reported that Mr. Gandhi conveyed to Mr. Kharge his displeasure at his being sidelined in the deliberations between Mr. Modi and Ms. Gandhi, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala told The Hindu that the sole aim of the meeting was “to discuss a series of political issues, including the party’s strategy in Parliament.”

“Somebody is misreading it [the meeting],” Mr. Surjewala said. “Rahulji’s stand on the GST has been clear right from day one — the Bill is conceived by the Congress and it should be passed.”

Before Mr. Modi met Ms. Gandhi, a Congress source said some “experienced leaders” had urged caution arguing that since the ruling parties of the “consumer States” were willing to back the Bill, the Congress might lose their support in Parliament, and its influence as the leading party of the Opposition. It was the fear of isolation, the source said, that pushed the former Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, to engage with the ruling BJP and “act as a bridge” between Mr. Modi and Ms. Gandhi.

Data that may be helpful:
Important Points:-

• The Goods and Services Tax Bill or GST Bill, officially known as The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Second Amendment) Bill, 2014, proposes a national Value added Tax to be implemented in India from April 2016. "Goods and Services Tax" would be a comprehensive indirect tax on manufacture, sale and consumption of goods and services throughout India, to replace taxes levied by the Central and State governments.

Source :- The Hindu, 30-Nov-2015