GST rollout boycott sign of opposition myopia

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) based on the concept of “one nation, one market, one tax” launched at the stroke of the midnight hour in a much-hyped special session of Parliament will predictably be a potential game-changer for the Indian economy. That a consensus on it was achieved after great painstaking efforts by the Narendra Modi government after several amendments were made to the original Bill will forever be remembered as a triumph of the collective spirit of Parliament and of State assemblies. It is unfortunate, however, that the bulk of the Opposition led by the Congress which had first mooted this change a decade ago has shown itself in poor light by gracelessly boycotting the rollout of this historic measure. This is not to say that there would be no infirmities in the bold new experiment and that all is hunky dory. Teething troubles are natural in any such gigantic pathbreaking exercise. It is also not unnatural for the Opposition to look out for lacunae and take on the government over its form and detail of implementation. But the Opposition has yet again lost an opportunity to put the government on the mat by boycotting the rollout of a measure over the fine-tuning of which it could legitimately claim credit.

Time and again, the Opposition has fallen prey to poor planning, appalling lack of leadership and muddle-headed thinking. It looks hopelessly unequal to the task of convincing the people that it is on the right path. By having acquiesced in its passing in Parliament and allowed the State governments to adopt it in the assemblies and now turning its back on it, it has shown poor collective character and has exposed itself to the charge that it is working against national interest. If there is anyone in the Opposition who has been shrewd enough to anticipate the gains from associating himself with a momentous reform measure it is Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Conceptually, one of the main advantages of the GST is that it is a tax on value added at each stage of the supply chain. However, states have been successful in keeping close to 45 per cent of their indirect taxes, including sales taxes on alcohol and specific petroleum products, outside the ambit of the tax. This is a concession that the Modi government made to the states to make sure that the roadblocks to passing the legislation could be removed.

The challenge is indeed acute for the government to show positive results. Perched in a position where it seems all set to sail through in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, some may say that it needn’t have taken the risk of failure of this measure. But buoyed by an Opposition that is utterly lacklustre and endowed with a dare-devil prime minister who successfully rode the demonetisation move, the NDA government has decided to brazen it out. It must now strive tirelessly to make a success of it. In principle, the concept and its rationale are sound. The government will, however, need to deliver on implementation.