P Chidambaram blames Modi government for not scrapping retrospective tax, MAT

NEW DELHI: Dismissing the charge of obstructionism in Parliament against Congress, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram today blamed the government for not scrapping retrospective tax and MAT on FIIs despite its commanding strength in the Lok Sabha.

He accused the BJP of making a u-turn on bills like GST after having stalled them during the UPA regime and rejected their claim that the Modi government has lifted the "gloom" saying it was the BJP that created it.

Reviewing the performance of the Modi government, he said farmers and unemployed would give a "very low" rating.

In a strong rebuttal of the charge that the UPA left an economic mess, he said the NDA inherited an economy that was growing a near 7 per cent with declining inflation and fiscal deficit and CAD under control and asserted there wasn't any gloom.

He said BJP has during its first year of office only renamed UPA schemes and has followed on the previous government's successful auction of telecom spectrum.

"They were the ones who created a pall of gloom. Where was the gloom. Inflation started declining in November 2013. The fiscal deficit was brought under control in 2012-13 partially and significantly in 2013-14.

"When we handed over the baton to them and according to their own figures economy had grown by 6.9 per cent. So where was the gloom. Except the gloom that they created. But they are rhetoric," he told PTI in an interview.

Asked about the oft-repeated charge by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and others that the UPA left legacy issues like retrospective tax, Chidambaram shot back, "who is preventing him from repealing it.

"He has got 282 members in Parliament. Please ask him to repeal that. I had suggested to him at a public function, I suggested that please repeal that law."

Asked what was preventing the government from doing it, Chidambaram said, "Nothing. I dont know. You must ask him. Nothing prevents him. He has no baggage of the earlier government."

To a question whether in hindsight it was a bad decision of the UPA government to bring retrospective tax, he said, "I am collectively responsible. All ministers in that government must accept collective responsibility. It may have been piloted by the Finance Minister of the day but we are collectively responsible."

Therefore, he said, he tried to find a solution to the Vodafone problem but the company backed off. "We could not succeed. What prevents Mr Jaitley from repealing it. It is a law made by Parliament, can be repealed by Parliament."

On levy of MAT on FIIs, he said there was more than one advanced ruling. "If the present government thinks that the advance ruling in the particular case was wrong, it can always amend the law. Mr Jaitley forgets that power to amend the law, the power to amend the income tax act, lies with the Parliament, in particular with Lok Sabha where it has a majority of 282."

Asked about the charge of obstructionism against the Congress, he said, "Mr Jaitley was the person who in an address in London and repeated in India, had said that obstructionism is a legitimate parliamentary tactic."

"They obstructed the insurance amendment law. We passed it. They obstructed the GST, we have said we will pass it after standing committee studies it. Which law we have obstructed," he said.