Support GST, don't repeat our mistake on nuke deal: BJP to Congress

Leaders in BJP and senior ministers in Modi govt have asked their friends in Congress to convince their party leadership to support the GST

Leaders in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and senior ministers in the Narendra Modi government have asked their friends in the Congress to convince their party leadership to support the goods and services tax (GST) Constitution amendment Bill. They also asked Congressmen to tell the party’s Vice-President Rahul Gandhi to learn from the BJP's mistake of having opposed the Manmohan Singh-led government’s India-US nuclear deal in 2008.

S S Ahluwalia, who recently took over as Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, told Business Standard that outreach to other political parties and consensus building were on. “We believe all political parties, in the larger interest of the country and states, will support the Bill. The differences are in understanding the issues involved. Continuous persuasion, discussions and consensus building are on and, ultimately, something will come up.”

However, a BJP national office bearer, who did not want to be named, said that he and others, including senior ministers, advised their friends in the Congress to point out to their leadership about the BJP's opposition to the nuclear deal and its aftermath. “Our party, then led by L K Advani, had opposed the India-US nuclear deal. Many of us disagreed with the position. But, the leadership not only opposed the deal but stood side-by-side with the Communists on the issue and tried to bring down the government. We looked a party that was out of step with the aspirations of India and suffered a defeat in the 2009 Lok Sabha, not to talk about the fate of the Left parties,” said the BJP national office bearer.

Beyond this, the government also believes that it has succeeded in isolating the Congress leadership on the GST issue, not only within the Opposition space but also within the party itself. The Congress government in Karnataka, currently the only major state government the party runs, is keen to support the GST Bill. The government in Delhi believes a consensus can be evolved on the issue in the all-party meeting, likely to be scheduled either for July 16 or 17.

While no Constitution amendment Bill can be passed in the din, the changed arithmetic in the Rajya Sabha, after the recent biennial elections of the Upper House, has further emboldened the government. Pro-GST votes are comfortably more than the requisite two-thirds mark. The government is keen to table the Bill for discussion and voting in the first week of the session, given that it will be a short-duration session. The session starts on July 18 and ends on August 12.