New Delhi, Nov 27
[dropcap color=”#008040″ boxed=”yes” boxed_radius=”8px” class=”” id=””]P[/dropcap]rime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Chai pe charcha’ wth Congress President Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday raised hopes of an early resolution to resolving differences on the Goods and Service Tax (GST) bill. Even though the discussions did not end the impasse both sides decided to carry forward the dialogue process to achieve a breakthrough next week.
In addition to Modi, Sonia and Manmohan, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu were also present in the 35-minute discussion, which was the first direct contact between the top leadership of the Government and the Opposition to end the logjam over passage of some key legislations.
Talking to reporters after the meeting, Jaitley said: ”The Congress leaders explained their viewpoints and their three objections on the bill. The government kept its points on the table. Now Venkaiah Naidu will again establish “fresh contact” with the Congress leaders once the party completes its internal discussions”.
[dropcap color=”#008040″ boxed=”yes” boxed_radius=”8px” class=”” id=””]”T[/dropcap]he history and the background of the legislation and the government’s response to these issues in detail were also explained to them,” jaitley said, adding, “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.”
Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma, deputy leader of the party in the Upper house of parliament, said that the Congress was the real author of the GST bill and the party was interested in its passage. “We will discuss the government response to the points raised by Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh with the Prime Minister. Then will take a decision,” he said. The PM decided to establish direct contact with the Congress leadership in the backdrop of the Congress enlisting three key demands to back the Bill. These are: scrapping one percent addition tax on inter-state sale of Goods, a cap of 18 percent for GST rate through constitutional amendment, and an independent dispute resolution mechanism for GST.
[dropcap color=”#008040″ boxed=”yes” boxed_radius=”8px” class=”” id=””]H[/dropcap]opes of passage of the GST bill has kept the stock market in the green for the last three days and shares of companies which could benefit from the implementation of the radical tax reform measures have seen major gains during the last few days. For example, scrips of Patel Logistics and Gati have gone up as much as 15 per cent during the last three days alone. The overall market sentiment has been positive and the Nifty can break the 10000 level if the GST Bill finally became a reality.
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