"If we can pass real estate bill, I do not think there is a problem in passing GST bill in next part of the Budget session"
Enthused by the passage of bills including real estate, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu today expressed confidence that the pending GST bill can also get Parliament's nod in the second part of the Budget session.
However, he castigated Congress for pressing an amendment to the President's address in the Rajya Sabha.
Referring to the passage of 10 bills by both Houses, he said, "If we can pass real estate bill, I do not think there is a problem in passing GST bill in next part of the Budget session" and noted happily that disruptions of proceedings have substantially come down.
Training guns on Opposition for pressing amendments to the Motion of Thanks to the President's address in Rajya Sabha, he said this is an embarrassment to Opposition, particularly the Congress and not to the NDA government. It accused the main Opposition party of "depriving" millions of people the basic education even after 68 years of independence.
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad had given an amendment in a division in which 94 voted for the amendment and 61 against. The amendment regretted that President's address did not commit support to rights of all citizens to contest panchayat elections in the backdrop of law in Rajasthan and Haryana where matriculation has been fixed as the criteria for contesting the polls.
Naidu said the amendment got approved "because Congress is numerically more in Rajya Sabha. Now they are calling it a set back to the Modi government".
"But I personally feel that the opposition, particularly Congress has embarrassed itself. Let us consider the basic issue; who is responsible for depriving millions of people the basic education even after 68 years of independence. Congress and its supporters were in power for most of the time, both at the Centre and in the states."
He said that having neglected that Congress is now "criminally" trying to spread "disinformation" against NDA.
"By moving such an amendment, Congress admitted that basic education during their tenure was in shambles and it was glaring that they failed miserably. So moving an amendment on such issue was an embarrassment to the Congress reflecting its failure to fulfill the basic right of the citizen," he said.
He also argued similar provisions existed in Haryana, which Congress never tried to amend despite being in power there for long.
"The Congress party during its tenure never bothered to amend it and was now crying hoarse. After having failed in fulfilling its responsibility, it now has the audacity to bring in an amendment to the Motion of Thanks to the
President's address. By making this amendment, the opposition has endorsed all other aspects of the President's address which is a policy statement of our government. I need to thank Opposition for this," he said.
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 "M Venkaiah Naidu")
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