The impasse over Goods and Services Tax Bill may finally come to an end. The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) has hinted at a possible resolution over the contentious bill.
"We believe there is a possibility of resolution and the ball is in the Centre's court. We hope Prime Minister intervenes in the matter. Without AIADMK support, GST won't get passed," AIADMK spokesperson K Pandiarajan said.
Tamil Nadu is the only state which has raised objections to the passage of the bill.
"We have raised 6 specifications, 1 has been addressed. A major specification is to compensate states like Tamil Nadu for 5 years. Manufacturing states like Tamil Nadu should not get penalised for doing good. We are not negotiating in a non transparent manner. No one from Union government has said we are unfair or we are not right," he added.
He also claimed that the state government wants to resolve issues but not at the cost of compromising the welfare of Tamil Nadu. "We are not obstructionist, we are proactive in voicing our point of view. We have announced so many schemes and we have made a huge amount of fiscal commitment. If we compromise on everything, where will we find resource. We are asking for the rights of Tamil Nadu," he said.
The statement comes after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa met PM Narendra Modi and urged Centre to address the state's grievances over issues related to the implementation of GST. Jaya had said that the GST, in its proposed format, would affect the autonomy of the state government.
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had also held a meeting with 22 state Finance Ministers on Tuesday where all other states except Tamil Nadu backed the GST Bill.
"Virtually all the states have supported the idea of GST barring Tamil Nadu which has expressed some reservations. TN has offered a few suggestions which have been noted by the committee," Jaitley said.
The GST Bill is the biggest tax reform in 10 years and the Narendra Modi government is desperate to pass it in Parliament over consecutive sessions. The government hopes to have the Bill cleared by Rajya Sabha in the Monsoon Session of Parliament. It has already been passed by the Lok Sabha.
GST which aims to bring the country under a unified tax regime was proposed by the Congress-led UPA government in 2006.
The government had earlier targeted to roll out the nationwide single tax regime from April 1, 2016 but the Constitutional Amendment Bill on GST has been stuck in the Rajya Sabha due to opposition by the Congress party.
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