Govt strikes conciliatory note, reaches out to Oppn

The Centre has no misgivings on facing rough weather during the Monsoon Session of Parliament, which commences on Monday. Going by the tone and tenor of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address at the all party meeting convened by Speaker Lok Sabha Sumitra Mahajan on Sunday, it’s clear that Centre expects Opposition to come down heavily on it on the role of Governors especially in Arunachal Pradesh and the handling of violence in Kashmir. The government’s unsuccessful NSG bid, floods in some states, agrarian crisis and terrorism were among the other main issues raised by opposition leaders at the meeting.

However, the Centre, unlike the past, wants to go into the session with “humility” with a bigger agenda to get the long-pending GST Bill passed. Modi in his address urged all the political parties to keep national interests above any other considerations. “We represent both the people and parties and there is a need to keep national interests above anything else,” he said.

Though the government has been able to build a consensus among a large number of political parties on the passage of GST, the Congress was still not forthcoming with a carte blanche assurance on the matter. Congress leaders at the meeting said it would support bills but based on merit but offered no assurance on the GST, saying it could take a stand only after the government gave a “written draft” over concerns raised by it.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar later told reporters that the government will talk to all parties to evolve a consensus on the GST. “Our legislative business, including GST, is a priority. We want to see to that we pass the GST bill with consensus. We are going to take every party on board,” he said. Kumar played down the attacks of Congress, the Left and some other parties on the government over the Arunachal issue, saying all issues can be debated in Parliament. With the opposition set to raise the issue of India’s failure to get a berth in the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group, the government has said External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was ready for discussion on issues including Prime Minister’s recent foreign tours.

“The meeting was very fruitful. Congress has offered support based on merit of the bills. We have assured all parties that there will be open-mindedness and we are ready to discuss all issues,” Kumar said. Growing incidents of terror attacks in different parts of the world and their implications for the country, foreign policy, floods in states like Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand were listed by Kumar among the issues to be discussed in Parliament. The government’s legislative agenda includes taking up 16 bills, including three to replace ordinances. Some opposition leaders also asked Prime Minister Modi for more Parliament sittings. Though the PM ‘welcomed’ the suggestion but urged them to ensure proper utilisation of the available time, official sources said.