New Delhi:
Top speakers, full attendance, briefings for lawmakers. Just some of the ways the big two, the BJP and the Congress are prepping for the crucial Goods and Services Tax Bill, which will be presented tomorrow for the approval of the Rajya Sabha.
With the Congress on board, the numbers in the upper house of parliament are now loaded in favour of India's biggest tax reform, but neither party is taking chance and both have issued orders that all their MPs must "be in the House every day till Thursday".
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley briefed BJP lawmakers on the bill's fine-print today. He talked about the changes being proposed and the reason they have been made. The minister also explained the economic significance of the bill and has asked all members to give the draft a thorough read and be ready to quell misgivings if any back in their constituencies.
The Congress is expected to conduct a similar exercise, with former finance minister P Chidambaram briefing MPs.
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi met senior party leaders in Parliament House and discussed the GST bill and the party's strategy for tomorrow's debate.
Both parties plan to field strong speakers for tomorrow's discussion. The BJP speakers will make a strong pitch for the bill and showcase how the government worked with states and parties to ensure a people and business friendly reform.
The Congress's speakers too will seek to claim credit, underscoring that GST was authored by their party and will attack the BJP for blocking the bill when it was in the opposition. The Congress will highlight how it has bargained hard to ensure a low GST rate and a redressal mechanism with greater say for states.
After months of negotiations, the Congress signaled an all clear only on Monday night with the party's Anand Sharma saying, "All the issues we have raised are there in the GST constitutional amendment," referring to the proposal that will change the Constitution to introduce GST, a national sales tax which subsumes a complex matrix of central and state tariffs.
The Bill needs two-thirds of the 243-member Rajya Sabha to vote in its favour. Most regional parties have backed the bill and the government believes it has the support of the 162 that it needs tomorrow, without the Congress's 60 MPs.
But it needs the cooperation of the Congress, the single largest party in the house, to ensure it does not disrupt proceedings to derail a debate like it has done before.