Srinagar: Two main principle opposition parties — National Conference (NC) and Congress — today boycotted the All Party Meeting (APM) called by the government to pave way for implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) in Jammu and Kashmir.
Meanwhile, Communist Party of India (M) Mohammad Yousuf Targami, who attended APM today, said nothing came out from the meeting since there was no road map prepared by the government.
The second APM comes a day after Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh threatened of pulling out of the coalition government if GST was not implemented in the state on July 1, 2017.
However, Dr Singh today clarified that he has not threatened to pull out from the coalition and was misquoted by the press.
Earlier, the government was not able to break the ice over the GST at the APM held last week following which the special Assembly session called for tabling and passing the regime was adjourned sin die on the very first day on June 17 without discussing GST.
Senior NC leader Abdul Rahim Rather in a letter to Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu asserted that the promise made by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti that the government’s proposal and all supporting documents on implementation of GST would be sent to the participants well in advance was not fulfilled.
“I am constrained to remind you that in the previous meeting, the Chief Minister committed that before further meetings are called on the issue ( GST), the government’s proposal and all supporting documents would be sent to each participants well in advance.
Needless to say, this has not happened; in fact the invitation letter was delivered to me only a few hours before the meeting today,” Mr Rather said.
He said the absence of any proposal from the government makes it impossible for my party to finalise its stand on what the government is proposing.
Therefore, he said it is not possible for him to attend this meeting at this late juncture.
He further requested Dr Drabu to share the government’s proposals with the participants in advance whenever they decide to call such meetings.
Meanwhile, Congress also stayed away from the APM, alleging that the government was showing non-serious attitude with regard to implementation of GST.
“PDP-BJP coalition government in the State is responsible for confusion over GST following which the trade bodies in the entire state were in dilemma,” a Congress spokesperson said here today.
He said despite assurance from the Chief Minister, the government failed to circulate draft proposal on GST, which would have enabled Opposition political parties to debate and discuss tax regime at length in order to evolve to a consensus.
“This is unfortunate that no such proposal from the government side has come out so far, which reflects that both the ruling parties are in a state of confusion and has no roadmap on the implementation of GST,” he added.
“No consensus was built during the APM held on GST today. Personally, I’m opposed to one nation one tax concept,” Mr Tarigami said
Meanwhile, expressing concern over the implementation of GST in its current form, he said the applicability of Constitutional amendment ie 101 has wide legal and political ramification for the state. “There are many examples where Constitutional amendments were not extended to the state. Like 73rd and 74th amendments, those were not extended to J&K,” he said.
Mr Tarigami said ‘we must preserve the residual powers of J&K Assembly and we must for our own law regarding taxes’. “If at all there is no alternative, we have suggested PDP-BJP to come up with a draft so that people will come to know the roadmap for the implementation of GST. It is evident that the coalition partners in the government are divided over the issue,” he said.
“The opposition has suggested the government to call a special session of Assembly and discuss the issue in the Assembly,” he added.
Warning that if GST was implemented without taking opposition parties and people into confidence, he said it will not be acceptable to anyone in the state.
Peoples Democratic Front (PDF) President and MLA Khansahib Hakim Mohammad Yasin said that passing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill must be discussed properly in the Assembly before it is passed to safeguard the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
Hakim Yasin, who also attended the all-party meeting called by the government to discuss the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) in the state said, “I told in clear terms that we won’t allow anybody to erode the remaining provisiions of the autonomy. I said it is not necessary to pass the GST Bill on July 1 only.”
“J&K is the sensitive state and for some time if the Bill is not passed it won’t make much difference. I told the government that let us discuss the Bill in the Assembly first and if there are any apprehensions, let the government clear it in the House,” he said.
“Government is itself not clear over the GST implementation. There is difference of opinion over the issue between alliance partners PDP and BJP and the apprehensions of people are genuine in this scenrio. We told the government that we won’t allow anybody to erode the fiscal autonomy of the state,” the PDF chief added.
