Cong continues to strike discordant note as Govt pushes for GST

Despite the government working overtime to garner sufficient support for the passage of the GST Bill, the Congress on Friday indicated that it was still to decide on its stand on the matter. “Before GST, there has to be MST that is Mujhe Suno To (hear me out),” senior party leader and newly elected Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal said on Friday.

On the other hand, the government is reported to have engaged most of the regional parties and for now have assurances on passage of the Bill. In addition to their allies within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the government has received assurances from Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress, Biju Janata Dal, JD(U), Rashtriya Janata Dal, Telangana Rashtra Sangha and several smaller outfits adding up to 135 members in the 242 member house.

However, the Congress, which has the biggest chunk of members in the House is still to bite the bullet. “They ask for opposition’s support on the GST but even do not allow an Opposition member to introduce private member bill,” said Sibal referring to its MP KVP Ramachandra Rao not being allowed to table the Bill for Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh. This move of the Congress, however, has been described by Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu as a political gimmick.

The Congress bloc has 62 votes including two from its Kerala allies. Among the non-Congress and non-BJP regional parties, the AIADMK and BSP are still to make-up their mind. Between them there are 19 seats whereas the Left has nine votes and it has agreed only on conditional support. The Left is not opposed to GST but want a provision on protecting fiscal autonomy of the states.   

“They have to first come out with the promised draft and then seek our opinion on the same. It would have to be discussed and only then can any agreement be reached. We want to pass GST, after all it’s our Bill. But before GST, as I mentioned earlier, there has to be MST,” said the former Minister.

Though NDA leaders including newly appointed Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ananth Kumar have expressed optimism on the issue, with first week of the Monsoon session already over, time is running out for the government to push through the vital legislation.