Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday rejected the preconditions set by the Congress for supporting the Constitution (122nd) Amendment Bill meant for the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax in the country.
Mr. Jaitley said the three points of dissent raised by Congress leader and former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Thursday to the Modi government’s proposed GST were an “after-thought”.
At a press conference, Mr. Chidambaram had said the Bharatiya Janata Party, while in the Opposition, had obstructed the GST for six long years without ever spelling out its objections. He said the Congress had broadly three objections, which, if addressed, could be the starting point for discussing other aspects of the Bill.
Going against this stated party line, Deputy Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Amarinder Singh on Friday expressed dismay at the delay in the GST Bill. “Whatever reasons or circumstances, during the Monsoon Session, the GST should have been allowed to be introduced in Parliament to facilitate the way for its eventual passage,” Mr. Singh said in a statement. He said the delay would adversely affect Punjab, though the Congress, plagued with frequent bouts of dissent in its ranks in the State, played down the former Chief Minister’s statement.
“The Congress is the original architect of the GST. It wants the GST too, but not in this form. I am sure this is what he meant too,” Shakeel Ahmed, party general secretary in charge of the State, told The Hindu .
Mr. Chidambaram had said that the Congress, which was the architect of the GST, would be willing to cooperate with the BJP on the passage of the Bill, if it agreed to add to it a ceiling of 18 per cent on the GST rate, the proposed one-per cent additional levy and a dispute resolution mechanism. Once these were resolved, the Congress would be willing to cooperate. “We want GST but we want as good a GST as possible,” he said.
Of the three preconditions put forth by Mr. Chidambaram, Mr. Jaitley said: “I do not think it is part of prudent politics for any party to put preconditions, particularly on a matter which involves a fiscal relationship between the Centre and the States.”
Mr. Jaitley said these three decisions were unanimous decisions of all States to which those ruled by the Congress were privy. “So it is clear that these three preconditions are an after-thought.”
Mr. Jaitley said that though Mr. Chidambaram was now demanding an 18 per cent constitutional ceiling on the GST rate, this was not even a part of the Bill he had proposed as Finance Minister in 2013.
He said that depending on the fiscal position and economic situation, if the States or the Centre felt the need to change the rates, any alterations should not require them to amend the Constitution.
On having a dispute redress authority, Mr. Jaitley said Standing Committee had unanimously recommended against having one.
