BJP should accept Congress objections on GST bill, says P Chidambaram

NEW DELHI: The Congress high command on Thursday made it clear through former finance minister P Chidambaram that to get the GST bill passed in Parliament the Centre must accept "three fundamental objections" the Congress has raised on "the current bill, riddled with problems". They include demand to fix a cap on the GST rate, abolishing proposed 1% inter-state tax and making the dispute mechanism in GST council independent of the parties involved. Chidambaram also underplayed the projected fears of the country missing out on next year's GST roll-out deadline by pointing out that such deadlines are only government targets.

"All I can say is let the government respond to our demand for a discussion and arrive at a consensus on the fundamental objections that we have raised. If they (government) meet us and come to the consensus on the fundamental objections, I am sure my party, which is the author of the GST, will respond positively. We (the Congress) want GST but we want a good GST as good a GST as possible — certainly not this GST riddled with problems and issues. I don't see any reason why the party will not cooperate provided the BJP accepts the fundamental objections that we have raised and finds a consensus," Chidambaram said in response to a question at a press conference at the Congress headquarters on Thursday.

The Rajya Sabha select committee on GST had rejected the three Congress objections which Chidambaram had listed, prompting the party to file dissent notes along with a few more issues.