With the courts summoning Sonia and Rahul Gandhi on December 19 in the National Herald case, post a complaint by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, which led to an uproar in the Parliament, questions are being raised on whether the Congress will cooperate on GST.
Sunil Jain of The Financial Express says even before this case, Rahul Gandhi's tone was very aggressive. "Even after the prime minister had called Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh to his house and there seemed to be some kind of talking happening, Rahul had said that the PM just called because of public pressure and the BJP otherwise does not like to consult with anybody."
Other than that, Rahul had also said that Modi wanted to hurt the interest of farmers (Land Bill) and now he is trying to hurt millions of Indians and the Congress is saving them, says Jain.
Hence, according to Jain, even though the low revenue neutral rate by the chief economic advisor (CEA) is a big plus, and there were signs that it could work, but Rahul's body language from the beginning suggested that the passage of the GST Bill will be difficult.
But the other big question is whether the GST will really be as big a turnaround as it is made out to be — for the economy and businesses alike. "Even the central government doesn't think that real money will start flowing in for another 3-4 years," Jain told CNBC-TV18.
However, he believes, GST aside, the Bankruptcy Bill is more worrisome than the rest. Jain is infact hoping that since the Congress is making a big deal out of GST, the Bankruptcy Bill will go through, and if that happens, it would be a great win as far as reforms are concerned.
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