PM Modi hopes changing equation in RS will help govt push GST bill
With the changing arithmetic in the Rajya Sabha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hopes that the government will be able to pass the long-pending GST bill in the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament.
With the changing arithmetic in the Rajya Sabha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hopes that the government will be able to pass the long-pending GST bill in the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament.
“Now the kind of arithmetic which is working out, I hope that this decision is passed in favour of the poor,” Modi told a news channel on Monday. He indicated the government’s willingness to negotiate further with the Opposition on the bill.
“I am ready to convince them in which ever way possible. If I have to visit someone over a cup of tea at their house, I am even ready for that. I have no problem,” Modi said.
He took indirect swipes at the Congress as the “one party which has problem” but maintained he is ready to go to any person’s house to get support for the bill, pitching it as beneficial for the poor of Uttar Pradesh where elections are due early next year.
“Not having GST straight away means loss for the poor of Uttar Pradesh. Not passing it would mean loss for the poor states like Bengal, Orissa and Assam.”
Modi had earlier invited Congress president Sonia Gandhi and former PM Manmohan Singh at his residence to arrive at a consensus on the bill but it yielded little results.
Targeting the Congress over disruptions in Parliament, he said, “If somebody is running away from debate or don’t let discussions happen, then it is a cause of worry in a democracy.”
Giving the GST a pro-people push ahead of the assembly elections in UP, Punjab and other states, Modi said GST should not be seen only within “the purview of an economic reform”.
In the interview, Modi also linked use of black money with frequent elections and said many regional parties are of the view that polls for Lok Sabha and assembly elections should be conducted simultaneously. “Electoral reforms are required to get rid of black money,” Modi said.
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