New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has charged the Congress with opposing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill solely for political reasons and said that if such opposition continues, the government will have no option other than putting the draft legislation for voting in the Rajya Sabha.
“Only one political party, the Congress (is opposing). And that’s a political opposition. That’s not an ideological opposition,” Jaitley told All India Radio in an interview.
He said, “I am trying my best to talk to them, so that they can come around. And if they don’t, then, we will have no option but to put it to vote.”
The key draft legislation that seeks to harmonize the entire system of taxation by subsuming all indirect taxes under one regime was passed by the Lok Sabha on May 6, 2015 and is pending in the Rajya Sabha since then.
The Congress and other opposition parties that have the numerical advantage in the RS have been stalling passage of the GST bill. (IANS)