New Delhi: With just eight days left for the Winter Session of Parliament, the possibility of the Goods and Service Tax bill being passed appears dim. The Congress is unlikely to relent in the National Herald standoff and is set to corner the Narendra Modi government.
Parliament is likely to witness another stormy day on Tuesday with the opposition expected to corner the treasury benches over alleged political vendetta. The Bharatiya Janata Party is not holding back and is upping the ante over the National Herald case and will be releasing a booklet at its parliamentary party meeting to counter Congress.
The main opposition Congress has rejected the charge that it was blocking the GST Bill because of the court summons to party president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul in the National Herald case, while BJP continues to insist there is a link between the two developments.
The deadlock continued on the Constitution amendment bill to provide for a uniform Goods and Services Tax after inconclusive talks between Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma with the party making it clear that the engagement cannot be restricted to only one issue.
"Today's talks remain inconclusive. It is a work in progress. There was no structured discussion today," Sharma said on Monday noting that it was the first such meeting after Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached out to Congress President Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
He insisted, "Engagement between Government and Opposition cannot be restricted to one issue. After not engaging Opposition for 18 months, Government is desperate to discuss with us just one bill. First they should not be over-obsessed with one bill as other important legislations are also pending."
Meanwhile, Jaitley apprehended a "washout" of the current Winter session and attacked Congress over the disruption.
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