Don't blame BJP for stalled reforms, Yashwant Sinha tells UPA

NEW DELHI: The government-BJP blame game over pro-reform measures has turned fierce. Angry over UPA's charges that the Opposition was blocking reforms, BJP on Wednesday said this 'attitude' would make it difficult for the party to extend cooperation to the government.

A day after corporate affairs minister Veerappa Moily blamed the Opposition for stalling reforms, chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, and BJP leader, Yashwant Sinha, hit back saying Moily was "completely off the mark and had stated blatant untruths".

Sinha said the parliamentary panel had already submitted its report on Direct Tax Code in March and it was meeting every week to examine the Goods and Services Tax bill to have the report ready by the monsoon session of Parliament which begins by the end of this month.

"The finance minister had even mentioned about DTC report in his budget speech. Moily appears to be ill-informed. Besides this, he should know that the empowered group on GST had completed its work and after that the Constitution amendment bill was referred to the standing committee," Sinha told ET .

Moily had said that GST and DTC were with the parliamentary panel and could be in place soon if the Opposition cooperated. He had pointed out that the empowered group on GST was headed by BJP leader Sushil Modi. Rejecting the Time magazine article describing the prime minister as an 'underachiever', the minister had said it had "deviated from objectivity perhaps swayed by the malicious environment created by BJP in recent times".

Sinha said the minister had no right to blame BJP for holding up legislations. He said the standing committee had cleared nine bills, including those on pension, raising FDI cap in insurance and banking reforms but the government was sitting on them. "I would like to tell Mr Moily that we (parliamentary panel) gave our recommendations on the companies bill in August 2010. It was brought to Parliament, flawed, and had to be withdrawn."

He said earlier Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had criticised NDA in an interview and now Moily was doing the same. "They have ruined chances of seeking cooperation from BJP. We had assured cooperation to the government but it seems interested only in blaming BJP. If this is the attitude, the party will find it very difficult to extend cooperation," Yashwant Sinha said.

He said the government had wanted the panel to hurry with reports on the narcotics and money laundering bills to meet international commitments. "We hurried with them but the bills were not passed in the budget session. After that we started examining GST bill," he said.

Speaking of the timeline for implementing GST, Yashwant Sinha said it cannot be done overnight with a magic wand.

"It's a crucial piece of legislation and it will need a number of legal and administrative procedures to be in place." Sinha said the legislation has to be endorsed by at least 50% of state legislatures after which Parliament will have to clear amendments to Acts under which GST can be implemented. Rules under these Acts will be notified later.

"Mr Moily appears to be totally unaware of procedures and facts and is shooting his mouth off unnecessarily," Sinha said.