Top ministers meet, govt hopeful of Congress support on GST

Top Union Ministers today held deliberation over the government's strategy ahead of the Winter Session of Parliament beginning on Thursday with the Centre expressing hope that Congress will help passage of key reform bills, including GST.
Ministers of Home, Finance, External Affairs, Defence and Parliamentary Affairs, Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Manohar Parrikar and M Venkaiah Naidu respectively, met to give final touches to their strategy.
Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, who also attended the meeting, said the government's agenda is to run the two Houses smoothly and get the bills passed by reaching out to the opposition.

He told PTI that senior ministers like Singh, Jaitley and Niadu among others had spoken to leaders of various opposition parties, seeking their cooperation.
"We are hopeful to get Congress support for the passage of important reform bill which are in the national interest," he said.
A total of 38 Bills, including some finance bills, are awaiting parliamentary approval.

The crucial GST bill is also pending in Parliament which the government hopes to pass in the upcoming session.
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Meanwhile, incidents like the Dadri lynching, Kalburgi killing, among others also cropped up during the high-level ministerial meeting while discussing the ongoing campaign of "rising intolerance" in the country.

The government is likely to take the line in Parliament that the Centre and BJP have nothing to do with these incidents and put the ball in the court of the states, sources said.
The government is also expected to to cite that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already responded in the matter.
There was a view in the meeting that there was no reason for the government to be defensive in these matters while at the same time it should be ready to discuss these matters if the Opposition wants to discuss them despite these being state subjects, they said.

Sources also said that the leaders discussed legislative proposals to be brought before consideration of both the Houses of Parliament which include three Bills relating to replacement of Ordinances, GST Bill, Real Estate Regulation Bill.
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Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said that the government is always ready to walk the extra mile to accommodate the opposition's views and if it was required, he can also meet Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
"I have called an all-party meeting tomorrow. There are issues before Parliament. We will be taking other parties into confidence and the government has always said we are willing to walk the extra mile to accommodate opposition's views. But political parties should allow Parliament to debate to strengthen parliamentary democracy." he said.

Talking about important bills pending before Parliament, he said the government will be pursuing with other parties on these issues.
"We have no problems in discussing with Congress also, which is major Opposition party. Some are raising questions like whether you will meet Soniaji. Why is this doubt coming in any body's mind.
"I have met Soniaji earlier. If necessary I will meet her again and other leaders. There is no problem at all discussing with opposition. We are open minded. Our only request is to allow proper functioning of the House," Naidu said.