Congress should help pass GST Bill: Arun Jaitley

“It (GST) is the important reform of UPA. If I had to credit the authorship of it, I have to give credit to them. Now, If the author turns against his own script, what do I make... I have reached out (and) I have spoken to them. I have explained to them and I hope they will see reason... (and) see the rationale behind passing GST,” he said. 

Speaking at a global business summit, Jaitley said the three objections raised by the Congress “go against the grain of what they themselves had brought”. The minister further said every party with the exception of the Congress is actively supporting the GST Bill. “The UPA allies like the RJD, the NCP and the JD-U are openly supporting it,” Jaitley said, adding that even the Congress-ruled states are for GST. 

GST which will subsume all indirect taxes such as excise duty, service tax and sales tax into one uniform rate, is stalled in the Rajya Sabha as the Congress is pressing for three changes. 

On whether he took up the GST issue with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi at a recent reception hosted by President Pranab Mukherjee, Jaitley answered in the negative.

“These are informal occasions, and it is not necessary that you get into a discussion at these forums,” the minister said.