How Jaitley-Chidambaram sparred over GST Bill

On the floor of the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, August 3, a rare repartee was witnessed between two members of Parliament sitting on opposite benches.

Arun Jaitley and P Chidambaram had much in common yet much to oppose each other on.

One is the incumbent finance minister and the other is a former finance minister. While Jaitley is making the GST (Goods and Services Tax) a reality, it was Chidambaram who first shaped the idea of uniform taxation in the country.

As Jaitley got up to move the Constitution (122nd Amendment Bill), 2014 to facilitate the GST for consideration and passing, he highlighted the journey of the crucial tax reform from 2006 onwards.

Also read: Why the Goods and Services Tax needs to be capped

Jaitley pointed out that the GST "was first put in the public domain in 2006 by P Chidambaran in his Budget speech".

He then went on to thank the Congress for finally having stopped opposing the Bill and coming on board.

To this Chidambaram replied, "Congress was never opposed to the idea of GST... We felt a more perfect Bill could be achieved... There were too many flaws that could be fixed."

Before expressing reservations on a couple of issues including the fixing the rate of tax at 18 per cent, Chidambaram started off on a lighter note saying, "We tried passing the Bill with the Opposition and failed. In the last two years you have tried to pass the Bill without the Opposition and I am glad you failed too."

Also read: Decode GST now or regret it later

But Chidambaram was quick to point out some flaws. He said the Bill had exquisite pieces of clumsy drafting with the draft amendments leaving some questions unanswered like how to avoid double counting.

To this Jaitley replied saying he laid out the history of clumsy drafting that came from the "constituent assembly", pointing to the Congress that first introduced the Bill in Parliament in 2011. He said "hair-splitting" should not be the idea here.

Chidambaram clarified that he said the drafting was clumsy, not wrong.

Jaitley who has been engaged in hectic backroom negotiations over the past few months was given a backhanded pat by Chidambaram who said the finance minister "has been friendly and conciliatory... his tone and approach has changed over the past three weeks and that augurs well for the Bill".

How could Jaitley be left behind? During the discussion he remarked, "I think to implement the GST Bill is a headache but to be a former finance minister a luxury."

The two lawyers were at their argumentative best as India saw the passage of one of the most crucial tax reforms in the recent history.

Speaking one after the other and also interjecting each other, the discussion on the constitutional amendment will largely be remembered through their quick exchanges.