Another parliamentary session has begun with the hope that in the sittings available, parliamentarians across party lines will, despite the political squalling, focus their energies on legislation that makes the aam aadmi’s life easier and better. On this count, the Congress will be especially under scrutiny this session. Repeated attempts by the NDA government to introduce India’s biggest revenue shake-up since independence, the long-delayed Goods and Services Tax bill, which seeks to transform the nation into a customs union by subsuming all indirect taxes of the Centre and states into a single GST, have been thwarted almost single-handedly by the Congress on one pretext or the other.The Congress has missed no opportunity to exploit the ruling dispensation’s lack of
The Congress has missed no opportunity to exploit the ruling dispensation’s lack of majority in the Rajya Sabha, where the bill is still stuck. Amid the bitter and contentious politics, it has almost become easy to forget that the GST bill was first introduced by the Congress-led UPA government. At that time, it was the BJP that had raised several questions. To an extent, queries and disagreements are understandable, as, for instance, on the revenue-neutral rate (RNR), or a tax rate at which the states do not lose revenue. Even today, six years past the date when the GST was supposed to come into effect, there is no settled answer for the RNR. The key to finding a solution lies in parties wanting to work towards it and approaching the discussion with positive intent. The Congress has clearly not done so. Instead, it has used every difference of opinion — should alcohol be included or not, should a 1 per cent inter-state levy be imposed or not, the list is endless — to derail the reform, in the process, hurting the larger economy.
When it ran out of all reasonable argument, the Congress assumed an adamant posture over a patently absurd demand — constitutionally freezing the maximum GST rate. Last month, almost all states unanimously discarded the Congress’ demand for a freeze. Top leaders of the BJP, including the prime minister, have tried to reason with senior leaders in the Congress — to no avail. The country will not forgive the Congress if it stalls the GST bill yet again, be it as political revenge for the Centre’s actions against Congress-led state governments in Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh, or for any other reason. The party that ushered in economic reforms 25 years ago should realise that if it continues down this path, it would only hurt its own claim and credibility as a party committed to the economy’s growth and development.
