All in one

In the Rajya Sabha, Yechury voiced his concerns about govt bringing all key Bills as Money Bills

During the goods and services tax (GST) debate in the Rajya Sabha, Communist Party of India (Marxist) chief Sitaram Yechury voiced his concerns about the government bringing all key Bills as Money Bills on which the Rajya Sabha cannot vote. He said that since the Rajya Sabha was the council of states this was a transgression of the federal structure of the Constitution. He added that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was doing this as its conception of a diverse country like India was that of one nation, one tax, one religion, one language, one leader and one election. One of the members shouted that Yechury should also include “one food” in the list. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley retorted that the BJP, unlike countries ruled by Communists, didn’t believe in one nation, one political party. Jaitley’s quip had the House in splits. Yechury responded that different shades of opinion were allowed in one political party, which the BJP currently lacked.