Rajya Sabha has allocated five hours for discussion on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill but no date has been slotted yet apparently because of lack of clarity over when there would be a consensus.
The problem is from the Congress as most other parties are on board. The Congress wants the cap on the GST rate to be made part of Constitution which means any change in the rate requires a constitutional amendment, a long-drawn process.
Also, the GST itself being a Constitutional Amendment Bill requires 2/3 majority in the House and near consensus.
Sources say this week it seems unlikely as the Trinamool Congress is busy with Shaheed Diwas preparations beginning on July 20 and Congress leaders are held up in Uttar Pradesh.
Former finance minister P Chidambaram, who will also be part of negotiations with the government on the bill, said: "We are the owners of the bill and we support it. But not in its present form. They have told us they will come back to us with written proposals."
Why the stress on written? Because both the BJP and Congress don't trust each other on this. BJP feels the Congress is using the agreement on GST to arm-twist it to go slow on issues like Vadra and Agusta.
And Congress, despite its ownership of the bill, sees in it an opportunity to pay the government back. Aware that the PM is very keen to send out the right message by passage of GST, Congress doesn't want to make it easy for the government and walk away with credit. Congress sources say they are watching the BJP carefully to see how they 'behave'.
And as in all things political, the passage of the bill depends on who blinks first.
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