Former Union Minister Anand Sharma on Wednesday indicated the Congress' support to the controversial GST Bill saying its support to Government in the passage of legislations would be "issue based and on merits".
Asked whether there may be any cooperation on the key reform measure GST which Government planned to bring in the next session, Sharma remarked "it will be issue based, considering the merits". Sharma's statement is significant as it came a day after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said that he agrees to the Congress demand that the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate should not go beyond 18 per cent, brightening early prospects of the passage of the legislation. Jaitley had said that he will reach out to the Congress again to get its support on the tax reforms.
Sharma's statement has come at the backdrop of senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh ruling out any possibility of cooperation to pass the bill due to Centre's policy of dismissal of Congress Governments with the latest in Uttarakhand.
At the same time, the Deputy leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha made it clear that there cannot be any constructive political engagement with the Government if there is larger conspiracy to topple elected Governments.
Notwithstanding BJP's "open threats" to topple party Governments in the backdrop of Uttarakhand developments, Sharma said that there cannot be any cooperation possible with the Government as it has continued unabated its "politics of confrontation" with the Opposition.
"There is a world of difference between Prime Minister Narendra Modi's precept and practice. He talks of cooperative federalism, but does exactly the opposite. In such a situation, any sort of cooperation is not possible", Sharma said.
