GST falls into political vortex as BJP struggles to get past Congress' scuttle tactics

New Delhi: In a country where governance and developments are mostly bottled up through bureaucratic clumsiness and political interference, thanks to the irony of parliamentary polity, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill is in debate. Can Congress, the “original authors” of the draft legislation which would push economic reforms further as claimed by Congress leader Anand Sharma, now oppose it? Can the ruling BJP, which allegedly blocked its passage during Manmohan Singh regime ostensibly at the instance of the then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, muster numbers to pass it the Rajya Sabha?[caption id=“attachment_2388406” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Battle royale over GST. Reuters[/caption] The saffron party strategists led by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has given the crystal clear impression that frustrated with 2014 electoral debacle and “continued good woks” of Modi regime, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are out to stall the bill that will bring in uniformed tax structure in the country. The government sources have tried to play the good-old ‘Modi the catalyst for reforms and development’ card, that BJP used in 2014 polls in full steam and sought cooperation from regional parties. With a modest 48 numbers of its own and hardly 15-20 members from its allies, BJP now hopes to encash on the support of key regional players like Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress, which has 12 MPs in Upper House, and 15 others from socialist patriarch Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav’s kitty. “We will use all the alternative mechanism to pass the GST Bill,” Jaitley said. Among its own NDA allies, BJP has Akali Dal -3, Shiv Sena - 3 and Telugu Desam Party of N Chandrababu Naidu - 6. NDA also has smaller constituents like Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF ), RPI and Nagaland People’s Front (NPF) - one member each. There are a good number of parties with sizeable numbers like 10-member strong BSP of Mayawati which are considered fence sitters and have not any firm opinion on GST. “Let us see how things unfold, we are holding our cards close to our chest,” Mayawati said minutes after the GST Bill was moved in Rajya Sabha amid bedlam. The GST bill needs to be passed by a two-third majority in both Houses of Parliament and by the legislatures of half of the states in the country to become a law. This constitutional binding has made things difficult for the government in terms of managing the numbers in 245-members Rajya Sabha as Congress is a large party by itself with 68 members on its own. The Left parties comprising CPM - 9 and CPI- 1 would be of course oppose the GST and also vote against it. Here lies the crux for the Congress as having steered the GST vehemently under the stewardship of two veteran finance ministers Pranab Mukherjee and P Chidambaram, it would be self-defeating now to straight away dump the Bill and vote against it in the House. “The GST should come,” came a rather helpless remark from Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who like his other colleagues also raised procedural matters on the Business Advisory Committee of Rajya Sabha not clearing GST for the agenda on 11 August. Perhaps also giving in that the Congress was on a sticky wicket after having cornered government all along during the Monsoon Session, Singhvi said, “the BJP government is now only seeking protection under the veil of GST to hide the gross failure of its economic policy”. He also said the GST was sabotaged by BJP during UPA tenure over the issue of a legal case against Amit Shah, the present BJP president. But it goes without saying that crucial to the entire game of GST would be the parties who most often stare at BJP-Congress war of wits and one-upmanship from the margins. Nitish Kumar’s JD(U), which has 12 members, though would favour GST as that would fetch in revenue dividends to the state governments, it “does not want to be seen going away from Congress” especially in view of the ensuing Bihar elections. JD(U) in all likelihood would not desert Congress but it will be tough to convince people why it did not vote for GST when Bihar is also a revenue-starved state. Important will be the role of 11 AIADMK MPs and possibly also four DMK members as Tamil Nadu is a “manufacturing” state and AIADMK has earlier expressed apprehension that their state could be a loser when GST is rolled out. In fact, along with Congress, AIADMK also had issued a dissent note to the Select Committee report on the GST. AIADMK’s note said that GST Council as a constitutional body would “impinge” on the legislative sovereignty of both Parliament and the States legislatures adding, “we strongly object to the provision for the GST Council”. However, not letting things to chance, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a crucial meeting with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in Chennai last week. Now whether they discussed GST and Rajya Sabha number management is any body’s guess; but the ruling BJP has always tried to maintain a harmonious relation with AIADMK. Moreover, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad was snubbed when he failed to reach out to AIADMK supremo over phone. “We will offer an win-win situation vis-a-vis the GST Bill to all the states. Tamil Nadu is not alone even Gujarat and Maharashtra also manufacturing states now both under BJP rule have apprehensions about GST. These can be discussed and the finance ministry can always work on it,” a senior BJP MP said trying to allay the apprehensions Tamil Nadu government. The government claims GST will add to country’s GDP and present a changed atmosphere for bringing in investments. Similarly, finance ministry has also tried to win over BJD of Odisha assuring them that GST will have adequate provisions even for a mineral producing states like Odisha. However no bill in parliament can be considered passed till the last dice is cast and the last vote counted. If the BJP manages the unthinkable, Congress will have lost a decisive battle as its entire game during the ‘washed out Monsoon Session’ will be wasted. For BJP, the taste of the pudding will be in its eating as whether it lost something or won something will be generally decided by the number of votes it can garner - if at all the voting takes place. In fact, in 2011 after a last minute “change of stance”, Trinamool Congress did not vote for the Constitutional Amendment Bill to give constitutional status to the Lokpal and Lokayuktas. On late night 28 December 2011, Congress-led UPA could not muster the requisite numbers and a visibly upset Mukherjee, then Leader of the Lok Sabha, had called it a “sad day for democracy”.