This being a constitutional Bill, it needs a two–thirds majority in each House of Parliament and cannot be passed through a joint sitting of both Houses.
The FM had on Tuesday questioned how the Rajya Sabha, an indirectly elected House ( where the Congress has a majority) could obstruct decisions taken by the Lok Sabha. Hitting out at Jaitley, Ramesh said, “The FM has no moral authority when it was Narendra Modi who single-handedly derailed the GST for three years (as Gujarat chief minister). Jaitley is no one to pontificate on GST.”
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“The Congress is the architect of the GST and it is in the national interest. The NDA version of the Bill cannot be passed in this form,” he added.
“The Congress is not isolated. The AIADMK, is fundamentally opposed to GST, the DMK, the CPI, CPI(M) are all opposed to it. Even the JD(U) is not clear in its stand. We are not isolated,” he said. The Congress said the issues that have been raised by it have to be addressed. Former finance minister P Chidambaram had stated that the Congress wanted removal of one per cent additional tax, a dispute redressal authority and cap on the GST rate at 18 per cent. In addition Ramesh said, the party had highlighted in its dissent note, submitted along with the GST select committee report, that municipal bodies and panchayats also needed to be compensated for the revenue losses they incur after the implementation of GST.
“GST would have been a reality in 2012 itself, if the BJP had not opposed. The GST in the words of Satya Poddar, an expert, should be a good and simple tax. Jaitley’s GST is neither good nor simple,” added Ramesh.