New Delhi: A day ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, the Congress on Sunday promised not to block any bills if they had merit. The Opposition is likely to raise the issue of the political instability in Arunachal Pradesh and India's failure to secure NSG membership.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitely and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar had met Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma on Friday to iron out the differences on the GST bill.
"We want discussion on NSG and floods. We won't block any bill, but a bill will be passed on merit only," Ghulam Nabi Azad said.
At an all-party meeting a day ahead of the Monsoon Session from Monday, leaders of several opposition parties spoke of developments in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand signalling their intent to train guns on the government, with Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad saying the states no longer trusted the BJP-led government at the Centre.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who joined the meeting later, thanked all parties for "speaking in one voice" on the developments in Kashmir and sought their support in the passage of the GST bill, saying it was of "national importance" and urging them to keep national interests above everything else, sources said.
Ananth Kumar told reporters after the two-hour meeting that Parliament was a "mahapanchayat" where all issues could be raised. He said the government will talk to all parties to evolve a consensus on the GST.
"Our legislative business, including GST, is a priority. We want to see to that we pass the GST bill with consensus. We are going to take every party on board," he said.
Kumar downplayed the attacks of Congress, the Left and some other parties on the government over the Arunachal issue, saying different issues can be debated.
"We have assured all parties that there will be open- mindedness and we are ready to discuss all issues," he said.
CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said BJP and Congress were indulging in "match-fixing" on the GST issue and asked the government to follow the parliamentary spirit as Atal Bihari Vajpayee dispensation did and consult all parties.
He and Naresh Agrawal of Samajwadi Party demanded an all- party meeting over the GST bill with the SP leader saying his party may oppose the bill if it is not consulted. Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitely besides Kumar were among 45 leaders from 30 parties who attended the meeting.
(With inputs from PTI)
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