Should Legislation Be Held Hostage To Competitive Politics?

The passage of the Aadhaar Bill in the Lok Sabha as a money bill is not meant to lower the prestige of the Rajya Sabha. It reveals something quite different. It reveals the seriousness of the Narendra Modi government about reforms and welfare. If the Opposition and especially the Congress party had not been so obstructive in the Rajya Sabha, this situation would not have arisen. At the least, the Opposition should introspect about the harm to the country caused by blocked reforms and welfare legislation.

Where there are genuine differences about portions of legislation or the legislation as a whole, these can be resolved by discussions between the government and the Opposition. The Land Bill surfaced irreconcilable differences between the two sides. A farmer in Rajasthan accidentally died in a protest demonstration in Central Delhi. The Modi government wisely retracted the Bill. This writer still supports the Land Bill. Without access to land fairly and squarely bought from farmers, manufacturing and growth won’t take off. Political sensitivities killed the Bill. Better luck next time.

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill is kosher in comparison. This Bill was prepared by the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government but a sensible change was made in its provisions by the present National Democratic Alliance (NDA) administration. The cap on GST was removed. A constitutional amendment makes no sense with caps inscribed. The GST rate is set by the executive and can move up and down depending on the circumstances. The Congress party has blocked the Bill in the Rajya Sabha because GST isn’t capped. Is this remotely reasonable?

The Modi government accepted two other Congress objections to the Bill and made the required changes. On the cap, it won’t budge. It cannot. No government would desire executive actions to be circumscribed in this manner. Privately, neither would the Congress party. The party is not the problem. It is the Nehru-Gandhis, in particular Rahul Gandhi. He won’t permit any legislation that he believes would give the Modi government bonus points. Is GST to be held hostage to competitive politics? Is this the way to do politics?

On GST, the Congress is virtually alone. No other opposition party quite rationally understands the Congress’s objections to the GST Bill in its present form. Blocking the Bill means blocking reforms, and opposition-ruled states fear for growth and development. Knowing to be on weak ground, the Nehru-Gandhis advance silly excuses to block GST. The charade has been going on in one Parliament session after another since the Modi government was sworn in.

The Congress’ grouse is that the BJP in opposition did not allow Parliament to function. Two wrongs don’t make a right but the Modi government has made handsome amends nevertheless. Parliament has returned to an environment and happy circumstance that encourages free and fierce debates and discussions. Every real and manufactured issue has been discussed threadbare by Parliament in recent months. No side can complain. The Congress’s pique against the BJP is amply redressed, you would think. No. The Nehru-Gandhis have dug their heels in. They are taking revenge on GST. Its obstruction is most sad and unwarranted.

It is in this context that the Aadhaar Bill’s passage as a money bill ought to be seen. If it had gone the usual way to the Rajya Sabha, it would have been blocked for another six months. The country cannot waste a moment for reforms. It is now or never. The entire world is excitedly looking at India to assist in fueling global growth. Surely the Congress party can see itself as part and parcel of India’s success story and contribute to the reforms’ process. Sulking is no solution. The country can also do well without obstructionism.

To stay relevant, the Congress party must be satisfied with the changes made to the GST Bill by the government on its insistence and allow its passage in the Rajya Sabha. It should drop the cap. As for credit of the passage, the Nehru-Gandhis can gladly claim it. While at it, they can claim credit for Manmohan Singh, too, in 1991. The Congress party undeniably is the progenitor of reforms in this country.

India needs reforms and a thriving market economy. The market economy will generate surplus that socialism cannot. Karl Marx proposed Marxism to be built on market economy and to feed off the surplus. That is how hopeless and hollow his ideology was. India can remove mass poverty only with a market economy and with millions of new entrepreneurs working day and night to create wealth. Rajiv Gandhi would have instantly appreciated the impeccable logic of all this.

This article was previously published here