United Opposition stalls proceedings over 'unparliamentary' GST hike

Says govt running away from discussion in Parliament on price rise

The entire Opposition united on Tuesday to force both the Lok Sabha (LS) and the Rajya Sabha (RS) to adjourn on the issue of price rise and the impost of the goods and services tax (GST) on packaged food like milk and yoghurt.

The issue of the new military recruitment scheme Agnipath was also flagged, even as Opposition candidate for Vice-President Margaret Alva filed her papers. No leader from the Trinamool Congress or the Aam Aadmi Party was present during the nomination filing of the joint Opposition candidate.

The House adjournments followed protests, led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Opposition Members of Parliament (MPs), including Supriya Sule of the Nationalist Congress Party, Ram Gopal Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, and Priyanka Chaturvedi of the Shiv Sena. Standing before the Mahatma Gandhi statue outside Parliament, Opposition leaders demanded roll-back in the prices of liquefied petroleum gas.

They also held banners and placards which read: ‘High inflation, continuous price rise badly affecting common citizens. How will they survive?’

Congress MPs from both the LS and RS participated in the protest. They included the Leader of Opposition in RS Mallikarjun Kharge and the Leader of Congress in LS Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

“The imposition of 5 per cent GST on curd, paneer, and other commodities of daily use will hurt the common man. We will protest inside the House as well,” said Kharge.

Congress Whip in LS, Manickam Tagore, said Opposition members led by his party wanted a discussion on price rise and GST, but the government did not allow it and the Speaker adjourned the House till 2 pm. The House was later adjourned for the day. The protest also came after the RS secretariat issued a circular saying no protest or demonstration would be allowed inside the Parliament complex.

“The rupee has touched Rs 80. Gas cylinder delivery agent asking for Rs 1,000. 13 million unemployed people in June. GST burden on foodgrain. No one can stop us from raising public issues. The government will have to answer. Running away from discussion and questions in Parliament is most ‘unparliamentary’, Mr Prime Minister,” he tweeted in Hindi.

In a Facebook post, the Congress leader also dubbed the government as ‘extortionist’ and said, “No matter how much the Prime Minister (PM) tries to silence us by terming many words as ‘unparliamentary’, he will have to answer”.

The post titled ‘This time, ‘extortion’ government?’ said from now on, 5 per cent GST will be charged on packaged products like milk, curd, butter, rice, pulses, and bread.

“Daily food items became expensive. The cylinder costs Rs 1,053, but the government says ‘sab changa si’ (all is well). Meaning inflation is the problem of the people, not of the government,” he said in a post in Hindi.

Gandhi said when the PM was in the Opposition, he had made inflation the biggest issue, but today he has pushed the public into a ‘deep quagmire of problems, in which people are getting drowned every day’.

“The PM is silent on your helplessness, is happy and continues to tell lies. The Congress party and I stand with you against every atrocity being committed on you by the government. We will strongly raise this issue in Parliament,” said the former Congress chief.

Speaking to reporters, spokesman for Congress Shaktisinh Gohil said the items on which GST had been increased included solar water heaters, packaged wheat, buttermilk, paneer, etc on which tax was raised ‘extortionately’ and would badly hit household budgets.

As the Supreme Court referred the issue of all public interest litigations on the new military recruitment scheme Agnipath to the Delhi High Court, Gohil said the country must take cognisance of the fact that military recruitment henceforth will be done for a job that will have a three and a half year tenure on contract, with six months of training, no pension, no health facilities, and no prospect of promotion. This was nothing but exploitation.