The Big Story: Good-ness sake

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday said that his party, the Janata Dal (United), is firmly in support of passing the Goods and Services Tax Bill, a major taxation reform that might finally emerge out of Parliamentary limbo in this session. Kumar also said he was against the suggestion to include the new GST rate within the Constitutional Amendment that will turn into reality the GST, which aims to get rid of a patchwork indirect taxes. He said that the rate should instead be set by the GST Council.

This is significant because the rate demand is the key stumbling block in the passage through the Rajya Sabha of the Bill, which has already been passed in the lower house. The Congress, with its 60 Rajya Sabha members, is now looking more and more isolated in its opposition to the GST Bill in its current form. Its own state leaders and allies – like Kumar – have come out against the idea of putting the GST rate in the Constitution.

The government is now reaching out to other regional parties, with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley set to meet leaders from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, before potentially hosting an all-party meeting that would include the final push for GST – where it would hope to fully isolate the Congress. Last week, the Congress indicated a softening in its stand, but the party itself doesn't seem to have made its mind up.

Delaying the Bill beyond this Session would make it hard for GST to be implemented at the start of the next fiscal year, because the Constitutional Amendment will have to be followed by four other pieces of legislation that will also have to make their way through two-thirds of the state legislatures. Time is of the essence.

The government indicated last week that it would be open to a suggestion from the Congress to ring-fence the rate, instead of specifying it in the Constitution. Both sides now need to show their cards and decide whether they have consensus on this, before more extraneous developments turn Parliament's wandering eye onto other distractions.

The Big Scroll
The complete guide to understanding India’s biggest tax reform – the GST. Could a "sensible" suggestion from a cornered Congress turn GST into reality this session? Why a cap on the proposed Goods and Services Tax is a good idea.


Political Pickings
1. The Supreme Court has asked Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi to either express regret or face trial for saying that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's people killed Mahatama Mohandas Gandhi.
2. Dalit protests continue to spread in Gujarat after it emerged that Dalit men had been stripped and beaten by cow protection vigilantes.
3. One of Donald Trump's biggest financial backers turns out to be Indian-American Shalabh "Shaili" Kumar, who heads the Republican Hindu Coalition.
4. Parliament Watch: The Rajya Sabha on Tuesday passed the Child Labour Bill Amendment which will allow under-14-year-olds to engage in "home-based work" with their families after school hours.
5. Indian Air Force papers suggest India was on the verge of bombing targets inside Pakistan before being ordered to stand down by the political leadership.

Punditry
1. Zoya Hasan argues in the Hindu that the Left needs to shed its anti-Congress approach, simply because the Congress is no longer a dominant force that needs opposing.
2. With its passage looking more and more likely, Niranjan Rajadhyaksha in Mint reminds us of the reasons why the Goods and Services Tax Bill is needed.
3. Ayesha Siddiqa in Newsline offers an overview of the three lobbies that attempt to control Pakistan's foreign policy.


Giggles

Don't miss
Menaka Rao asks why, despite several safeguards to prevent the illegal trade of organs, it still exists.

"India has a very poor organ donation rate with just 0.26 per million as compared to America’s 26, Spain’s 35.3, and Croatia’s 26.5 per million, according to a report released by the Chennai-based Mohan Foundation in association with Delhi’s Parashar Foundation – both non-profit organisations that focus on organ donation in India.

Organ donation scams are often attributed to the desperation of people in need of transplants.

In India, nearly 2 lakh people need a kidney every year, and about a lakh need a new liver. In Mumbai, there are more than 2,000 patients waiting for a cadaver transplant."