New Delhi, India (BBN)-The Congress will support Bills such as those for the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) in the Rajya Sabha, in which it has 68 MPs, against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s 42.
Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member Satyavrat Chaturvedi said, “Unlike the BJP, we shall not oppose for the sake of opposing, reports Indian newspaper Business Standard. We cannot oppose Bills and issues we have been fighting for. We will support legislation such as the DTC and the GST.”
“We will be a force to reckon with in the Rajya Sabha,” he said, adding during the National Democratic Alliance’s previous stint in power, the Congress had played a constructive role in Opposition.
During the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime, Congress leaders said, the BJP-led Opposition had derailed several Bills, despite assurances of support, backing out at the last moment or imposing conditions, as seen in the case of the Judicial Accountability Bill.
It will be vital to carry along, apart from the Congress, parties such as the Trinamool Congress (12 members) and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (10 MPs) for any decision in the Upper House.
Recently, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh had told Reuters, “If the people of India want us to be in Opposition, we will not do what Modi did to us on the GST — he single-handedly derailed the most important economic initiative of (our government).”
The Congress’s stand on the Women’s Reservation Bill, for instance, would be unchanged if the BJP government were to push it in Parliament, party leaders said.
On issues such as foreign investment in supermarkets, which the UPA favoured and the BJP opposed, the Congress’s stand wouldn’t be cooperative, said a party leader.
Important Bills pending in the Rajya Sabha include the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, the Drugs and Cosmetics (Amendment) Bill, the Higher Education and Research Bill, and the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill.
BBN/SS/AS-22May14-12:30pm (BST)