Having succeeded in getting the Rajya Sabha to recommend amendments to the Finance Bill, the Opposition is planning to suggest tweaks to the GST Bill when it comes up for discussion in the Upper House.
The Elders’ amendments to the Finance Bill were shot down by the Lok Sabha. The Rajya Sabha’s amendments to Money Bills are not binding on the Lok Sabha.
The Opposition believes that by pushing amendments to the GST Bill, also a Money Bill, it can “expose” the Centre’s unilateral ways of framing and passing the legislations “bypassing” the Upper House.
There are differences among Opposition parties on the various aspects of the GST Bill, particularly on including petroleum, real estate and certain services in its ambit. “But on the role of GST Council, there is a near consensus and we are trying to push an amendment on this,” an Opposition leader told BusinessLine.
Except the AIADMK, the Trinamool Congress and the BJD, Opposition MPs voted in favour of the five amendments moved by the Congress and the CPI(M) on the Finance Bill.
‘Detrimental measures’ The Congress said the Bill was used as a vehicle by the Centre to bring in a variety of measures which shouldn't have been in the Bill.
“Many of these were antithetical and detrimental to India's democratic functioning,” said the party’s spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member Rajeev Gowda. He said the first set of amendments focussed on a free rein to be granted to Income Tax officers. “Government has granted power to itself to arm-twist individual tax payers, political opponents and businesses,” Gowda said.
‘Shell companies benefit’ CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said the cap on political funding by corporate houses has been removed to help “all the shell companies to legalise their black money and moneys earned through corruption”.
“Earlier it was mandatory to name the political party to which donations have been made by companies. This provision (part of the Rajya Sabha amendments) has now been taken out. This is completely opposite to the high moral posture adopted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP on containing graft. It will open the floodgates of corruption,” Yechury added.
When asked about the Lok Sabha’s rejection of the recommendations by the Rajya Sabha on the Finance Bill, Yechury said the BJP is applying the tyranny of majority to muscle its way in Parliament.
“We had thought that the Lok Sabha will apply its mind on why the Rajya Sabha had passed those crucial amendments. But by using their brute majority, the BJP got the amendments rejected. This is tyranny of the majority which completely undermines democracy,” he said.