Walkout by AIADMK in Rajya Sabha over GST Bill helped BJP

Chennai: While on the surface, the walkout by AIADMK in Rajya Sabha over the GST Bill might appear belligerent, in reality it only helped the Narendra Modi government.

Any suggestion that the AIADMK staging the walkout had also signalled parting of ways with an old and trusted friend could only be a bad reading, with eyes closed, it is pointed out.

“The walkout by AIADMK MPs in Rajya Sabha was in line with their consistent stand on GST. They have opposed GST based on certain points and they walked out since the government did not accept their amendments.

“There was no need for them to show aggression by voting against the Bill and there was no way they could have voted for the Bill,” a political analyst, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.

BJP insiders were hoping that AIADMK would stage a walkout rather than oppose the Bill. Sources in BJP said the party  leaders were taken aback when AIADMK insisted on moving amendments to GST Bill and heaved a sigh of relief only when the members staged a walkout.

The AIADMK had expressed its stand at a number of forums for the past two years and stuck to its position till the end that the Bill violated States’ fiscal autonomy.

Though the party was opposed to the legislation, its voting against the Bill would not have made any difference.

However, economist M.R. Venkatesh feels the AIADMK’s walkout from the Rajya Sabha is compounded more by its “ignorance” about the benefits of GST rather than helping BJP or Modi government.

“The state would gain on the services side since it would get a share in the service tax though it would lose on VAT file. But a huge compensatory package runs through such Bills,” he said.

AIADMK spokesman  ‘Mafoi’ K. Pandiarajan said there was no necessity for the party to bail out the BJP.

“We have been consistently opposed to the Bill and we have expressed our opposition. If parties like Congress supported the Bill, it is because they are under pressure from corporate, but we are not.”

BJP leader H. Raja said the “AIADMK took a neutral stand and they did not help us in anyway.”