BJP, Congress meet to set the GST ball rolling

Finance Minister Jaitley’s outreach comes ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament, which is scheduled to begin from Monday.

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Jaitley’s outreach comes ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament, which is scheduled to begin from Monday.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and new Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar held a meeting with Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and Congress deputy leader Anand Sharma on Friday to try and reach an understanding on the GST Bill. The stage for the meeting had been set on Tuesday, when Jaitley called both Azad and Sharma on the phone.

Jaitley’s outreach comes ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament, which is scheduled to begin from Monday. The government is keen to get the GST Bill, a key reform measure, passed during the session to put in place a new taxation regime well before the next budget is presented.

“We are trying to build consensus on the GST,” Jaitley said after the meeting. “We have discussed all the points and once the monsoon session starts, we will meet again after discussing the issue within our respective parties.”

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Azad said, “We had an in-depth discussion. We gave our point of view, they gave theirs. We put forth our apprehensions and suggestions.”

“We will get back to our leadership and they will get back to their leadership and then we will meet again,” he added.

The Congress has flagged three important concerns over the Bill, including a demand to incorporate an 18 per cent cap on the tax rate in the constitutional amendment.

The BJP, sources said, is learnt to be optimistic over the Bill. The party believes the Congress will come on board since it runs the risk of isolation otherwise — West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan have indicated their readiness to back the Bill, while the JD(U) has already announced its support.