With no signs of support coming from the main opposition Congress, the Centre on Wednesday dropped plans for calling a special session of Parliament for passage of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill and decided to prorogue both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
“Keeping the political reality in mind, at the meeting of Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs [CCPA] it was decided that we will recommend to the President to prorogue the monsoon session,” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters after a meeting of the Union Cabinet and the CCPA.
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After Cong. red-flagging
The decision came after Congress on Tuesday virtually red-flagged government’s attempts to call a special session for passage of the GST bill, making it clear that it would not budge on its three key demands for amending the National Democratic Alliance’s legislation.
Calling for political statesmanship on the part of various parties on a measure like GST, Mr. Jaitley attacked the Congress saying its attitude was as if it was trying to punish the people of the country for voting them out in the 2014 general elections.
‘Congress adamant’
Mr. Jaitley said the government had tried to reach out to opposition and met a number of Congress leaders but the opposition party remained adamant with its “obstructionist” attitude while all other opposition parties were in favour of passing the crucial tax reform legislation.
“We had been talking to Congress leaders and we were hopeful that they will discuss the issue internally and bring about a change in their obstructionist attitude. It is, however, clear now that they will continue with the same attitude.
“Congress party’s anger seems to be both with the government and the people of India. Their attitude is almost guided by a revenge against the people who have reduced them to 44 [in the Lok Sabha],” Mr. Jaitley said.
Dig at Rahul, Sonia
On being asked whether they have talked to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and her deputy Rahul Gandhi, the Minister took a dig at the Congress top brass saying, “We discussed it with their leaders in Parliament and some of their leaders in Parliament are accessible.”
The monsoon session that started on July 21 and ended on August 13 was a near washout, with an unrelenting Congress stalling a number of legislation, including the GST bill.
Options kept open
Keen to ensure its passage, the government had kept open its option of reconvening the session with the CCPA deciding not to recommend immediate prorogation of the Houses after they were adjourned sine die on August 13.
The idea behind this was that the government wanted to convene a short extended monsoon session to pass the GST bill.
The Congress, however, has said that calling a special session will serve no purpose unless its demands on GST are met.
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