NEW DELHI: Hopes of a thaw on the GST bill emerged on Friday night with Prime Minister Narendra Modi reaching out to the Congress leadership, which will discuss within the party the government's response to its three objections on the measure.
The government will establish “fresh contact” with the Congress once the party completes its internal discussion on the three issues of “their concerns” on which they made their position clear, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters after Modi met his predecessor Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
This is the first direct outreach by Modi to the principal opposition ever since he came to power last year in a bid to ensure smooth functioning of Parliament in the winter session.
Modi had invited Singh and Gandhi for a tea at his residence where the discussions covered issues pending before Parliament, particularly the large number of bills that have accumulated over the past two sessions. After the 45-minute meeting in which Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu was also present, Jaitley said the Congress leaders put forward their position with regard to the three issues which they felt were of concern to them.
The Congress' three objections include the demand for specifying the proposed 18 per cent rate in the Constitution bill, opposition to additional one per cent levy on inter-state movement of goods and 100 per cent compensation to states for revenue loss for five years.
“The history and the background of the legislation and the government's response to these issues in detail were also explained to them.
“The Congress party leaders will be discussing within their own party and there would be after sometime a fresh contact between the government and them to discuss this subject further after they have discussed within the party and we have also considered the position that they have taken to us,” Jaitley said.
Jaitley said Naidu will be in touch with Congress leaders in both Houses to discuss the specific legislations pending in Parliament so work can proceed next week.
The Bill has been stuck in Rajya Sabha where the BJP-led NDA lacks numbers to ensure its passage.
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PM VOTES FOR CONSENSUS
* Modi said the government would rule by consensus and not force decisions through majority and ruled out any review of the Constitution
* He said in the Lok Sabha that "India first" is the only religion and Constitution the only "holy book" for his government
* He rejected the Congress contention that the government was trying to to undermine the role of leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru
