Wrong on govt.'s part to blame Congress for delay in GST: Kharge

With the government making all attempts to ensure the passage of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill in the Monsoon Session, the Congress on Monday said that the crucial legislation would have been passed earlier if the government had addressed the concerns of the opposition.

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, however, said that they would not create any hindrance in the passage of the GST Bill.

"The GST would have got passed earlier if the government would have heard us, but they thought they had the majority and they overlooked our grievances. And now they are blaming it on us that the GST Bill is not getting passed because of the hindrances created by the opposition parties," said Kharge.

"The draft for the GST Bill is yet to come out. We had three issues with regard to the Bill. Let's see how the Centre has reacted to it. If they have taken notice of those points then why will we stop the bill, the Congress, especially our party president and vice-president, want the bill to get through the Parliament," he added.

Kharge further said that the Congress has pitched many issues for debate considering their national importance.

"We urged for discussion on the matters of internal security, law and order, rising prices, FDI in defence and inflation. We have also issued notices in few matters like the Arunachal and Kashmir issues," said Kharge.

The GST proposal has got the nod of the Lok Sabha, but is yet to get a green light by the Rajya Sabha where the government is in a minority.

The Congress wants few amendments in the governments draft, it wants the GST to be capped at 18 percent, the upper limit to be listed in the constitutional amendment and it wants the removal of proposed 1 percent state levy, and it has called for a powerful council to settle disputes on revenue-sharing between states.

The government has indicated it is willing to accommodate most of those changes.