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The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill, which was to come up for discussions in the Rajya Sabha this week, seems to have been hit by the National Herald case.
A meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party leadership here on Tuesday decided to strengthen the protests against the government in and outside Parliament over “targeting the leaders of Opposition parties”.
Impact on legislation
The after-effects of this will be felt in other key economic legislation such as the Prevention of Corruption Bill and the Whistleblowers (Protection) Bill pending before Parliament.
The consensus-building exercise on GST initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the top leadership of Congress — Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh — may get derailed.
Citing the National Herald case, in which Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Vice-President Rahul Gandhi will face criminal procedures in the coming days, the party said the present government is “systematically targeting” its leadership in a personal manner.
Atmosphere vitiated
“Both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi believe that the government is targeting them personally. They see a pattern in various cases and issues against them and their family members. I think there isn’t even a remote chance of getting the GST and other key Bills passed in this session of Parliament. The government has vitiated the atmosphere of consensus,” a senior Congress leader told BusinessLine.
The deputy leader of the Congress in the Rajya Sabha, Anand Sharma, was quoted by a news agency as saying that the “GST Bill has gone for a sky walk”.
Conditional support
For the record, the Congress, however, maintained that it is ready to pass the Bill if the Centre accepts its suggestions on it. “Let the government consider our suggestions,” said party spokesperson Kapil Sibal.
Another leader said that the Congress’s decision to put its foot down and demand sending of the Prevention of Corruption and the Whistleblowers (Protection) Bills to parliamentary select committees is also an indication that the leadership has changed its mind.
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