How GST consensus was won: Behind the scenes

New Delhi, Aug 3: The Goods and Services Taxes Bill is set to pass the test of the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. Following this there would be a lot of parties which would claim credit for it.

For the Government it was no easy task to ensure a consensus on this issue and the behind the scene negotiations were crucial for the bill to be finally passed in the Rajya Sabha.

For the government the key man in all this was urban development minister, Venkaiah Naidu. To build a political consensus was not easy. It required a lot of behind the scene negotiations and along with Naidu, it was Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who did the bulk of the job.

A meeting with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, J Jayalalithaa followed up with negotiations with Sonia Gandhi, it was Naidu all the way. He even held discussions with several other Congress leaders to ensure that the bill was passed.

Why Naidu will smile the most

To break the log jam, Naidu last year had met with Congress president, Sonia Gandhi. Sonia Gandhi raised several issues which also included lack of time given to the opposition to speak in the Rajya Sabha.

Naidu quickly backed it up with statistics and informed Sonia that the opposition had got more time when compared to what it used to be under the United Progressive Alliance.

Naidu also held a meeting with Jayalalithaa in Chennai last month. This meeting came in the aftermath of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi's meeting with the TN CM last June.

Naidu also held meetings with Congress leaders, Mallikarjuna Kharge and Jyotiaditya Scindia in this regard.

Some leaders of the BJP also met with leaders of the CPI(M) and the Samajwadi Party in this regard.
On the other hand, Jaitley held meetings with the finance ministers of Congress ruled states. During these meetings it was decided that the GST would be rolled out soon.

OneIndia News