Govt ready to talk to Opposition on GST
NEW DELHI: Parliamentary affairs minister Venkaiah Naidu struck a conciliatory tone with regard to the GST Bill on Tuesday, announcing that he is ready to talk to everyone – including Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi – to evolve a consensus on passing it next month. With time running out for the passage of the GST bill, Naidu said he has started talking to Opposition parties for convening the second half of the monsoon session in September.
NEW DELHI: Keen to pass the GST bill in the next two weeks to roll out the new indirect tax regime from April 1, 2016, the Centre started talks with different political parties as parliamentary affairs minister Venkaiah Naidu announced that it may call the second half of the monsoon session.
Striking a conciliatory tone with the Opposition, Naidu also said he is even ready to talk to everyone including Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi to evolve a consensus on calling a Parliament session next month.
Sources, however, added that the government is yet to secure a concrete assurance from the Congress, to help it pass the GST bill if a special session is convened.
If the government decides to call an extension of the parliament’s monsoon session that was adjourned sine die on August 13, it will also bring bills like the amendments to the Negotiable Instruments Act along with the GST bill. There is also a possibility that the government may prorogue only the Lok Sabha to re-promulgate the Negotiable Instruments Act ordinance that expires on April 31.
Earlier in the day, Naidu spoke to Congress leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge. The Congress leader told him to first give the copy of the proposed GST bill to the Congress.
“We cannot support the GST Bill till we know that our amendments have been included in the Bill,” Kharge said.
Sources in the Congress said that the party is yet to take a final call if it would cooperate with the government to get the GST bill passed.