Will Congress cut a deal to pass land and GST Bills?

Starting August 3, there are only nine working days left for this session of Parliament: Nine days for the Lok Sabha to pass Bills, for ministers to make statements and answer questions and for the Rajya Sabha to present the select committee report on the 2015 land acquisition law and discuss and pass the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill.

So far, Parliament has not been able to function even one full day. The opposition is demanding the government probe the conduct of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and that she step down in the interim. The government has said baldly that no minister will quit. The question is: Will the GST Bill be passed? The only window is the four-day period between August 10 and 13. It is entirely possible that if the government offers significant concessions on the land Bill, the Congress might relent on GST, allowing some parliamentary work at the fag end of the session. Senior Congressmen are driving the non-cooperation policy, determined to do to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) what the BJP did to them in the last year of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) rule. Younger Congressmen who are advising Rahul Gandhi are saying the party should do a deal and cut its losses because it is clear no minister will quit. But, having stalled proceedings for so long, is the land Bill the only thing the Congress will get out of it? Next week should get us some answers. Meanwhile, the joint parliamentary committee that is studying the Bill is likely to give its report on Wednesday.