 "Will GST be tabled next week?")
There are two defining quotes in relation to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) that the Congress would do well to keep at the back of its mind as the government prepares to debate and pass the constitution amendment bill in the Rajya Sabha next week.
Both are statements by opposition parties made during or immediately after the transformative tax bill was passed by the Lok Sabha. The Congress walked out that hot day on May 7, 2015, when the bill was passed; and the AIADMK opposed the bill in the clause by clause consideration.
If they did that in the Lok Sabha, they are not likely to do the opposite in the Rajya Sabha.
But, here’s what Mayawati of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) said: “You need not offer me a cup of tea or even a glass of water,” she told the government. The context was the tea party hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh to talk about the GST bill.
In August 2015, after the bill had been passed in the Lok Sabha with the support of Mulayam Sngh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party (for which SP got praise and plaudits from Arun Jaitley), Ram Gopal Yadav of the party said: "We will not oppose GST Bill. Our suggestions on it have been accepted by the Centre."
Armed with all this, if the government is still timorous about bringing the bill in the upper house, fearful that it might not pass, what is the reason? Does it mean the government itself doesn’t want GST?
Those in the government say this is not true: failure to pass the tax legislation will mean serious loss of credibility of both Prime minister Narendra Modi (who has repeatedly assured investors GST would pass during the tenure of this government) and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
So maybe next week? Maybe.
