Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, June 12: Following opposition from some political parties, trade and commerce organizations on implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) in Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has called an All Party Meeting (APM) in Srinagar tomorrow afternoon to evolve consensus on the bill and explain to representatives of political parties that interests of the State will not be compromised at any cost with implementation of the GST.
Official sources told the Excelsior that all major recognized political parties and some Independent legislators have been invited to the meeting for a briefing by the Chief Minister and Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu among others at the APM at 3 pm at Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) tomorrow.
“All major political parties including the main Opposition-the National Conference-which has vociferously been imposing implementation of the GST in Jammu and Kashmir on the ground that it would erode special status of the State and harm the traders, have agreed to attend the APM to share their view point with the Government,” they said.
Meanwhile, there has been no proposal with the Government to defer Special Session of the Assembly called from June 17-20 exclusively for discussion and passing of the GST bill, which the Centre Government proposed to implement from July 1 countrywide with the slogans of `One Nation, One Tax’.
Sources said the State Government has clear intentions on the GST bill that it wouldn’t compromise special status of Jammu and Kashmir, fiscal autonomy of the State would be in-tact and the State would be compensated for the possible losses it could suffer with implementation of the GST. The Government was of the view that there were enough safeguards in the draft legislation to protect State’s special position.
“The Government wants to take all parties on board on implementation of the GST, which was the main reason for calling the APM,” sources pointed out but said going by the hard postures taken by the National Conference at its Core Group meeting, it was unlikely to back the GST bill in the Legislature if it was put to vote during the Special Session.
The National Conference would sent its 4-member delegation to the APM including two former Finance Ministers-Abdul Rahim Rather and Mohammad Shafi Uri apart from Devender Singh Rana and Nasir Aslam Wani, both provincial presidents for Jammu and Kashmir respectively.
Another major opposition party, the Congress would be sending its Deputy Legislature Party leader in the Assembly, Aijaz Ahmad Khan, chief whip in Legislative Council, Ghulam Nabi Monga and former Minister of State for Finance and Planning Usmaan Majid. Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Nawang Rigzin Jora will not be available for tomorrow’s meeting.
Ruling BJP will be represented by State party president Sat Sharma ‘CA’ and two State spokespersons, Sunil Sethi and Arun Gupta while ruling PDP will be represented by Sartaj Madni and one more party leader, whose name was yet to be finalized. Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti also happens to be the PDP president. CPM leader and MLA MY Tarigami has also confirmed his participation in the meeting.
Other recognized political parties and some Independent MLAs have also been invited to the APM, sources said.
Sources said the Chief Minister, who holds the charge of Planning and Development Department and Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu would also be joined by couple of more Ministers from both PDP and BJP in the APM including Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh, Works Minister Naeem Akhter and Social Welfare Minister Sajjad Lone.
Meanwhile, sources said, there has been no proposal with the Government to defer the Assembly session from July 17 in view of opposition to the GST bill from some quarters as the session has no other agenda but only to debate and pass the bill.
Legislative Assembly Speaker Kavinder Gupta confirmed that the Special Session is very much on schedule and he has also called and APM of parties represented in the Assembly and Independent MLAs to discuss smooth running of the session, which is scheduled to conclude on June 20.
The National Conference, according to sources, has decided to outrightly oppose the GST bill on the ground that it wouldn’t only impact special position of Jammu and Kashmir but will also adversely affect the traders.
“The NC would oppose implementation of the GST in the State,” party sources said, adding that it has deputed its two former Finance Ministers-Abdul Rahim Rather and Mohammad Shafi Uri to tomorrow’s APM.
The Congress, which claimed itself to be architect of the GST, was, however, of the view that in no case special position of Jammu and Kashmir should be compromise while implementation of the GST and that the State should be compensated for the losses it could suffer with implementation of the Act.
On the other, ruling BJP would call for immediate passing of the GST bill in upcoming Special Session to facilitate implementation of the ‘One Nation, One Tax’ regime from July 1. The PDP would go by the Government line, sources said.
Only yesterday, Chief Minister had called on Governor NN Vohra and briefed him on the Government proposal to implement the GST.
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