JOIN USFinance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday urged the Congress leadership to back the passage of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill, as it will help the economy grow faster and eradicate poverty in the country.
Without taking names of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi, Jaitley also urged the Congress to ponder over “the history and legacy” they wished to leave behind, saying: “It has never happened since 1991. Not a single reform measure has eventually been stopped by India’s Parliament.”
“Therefore, I would urge the current leadership of the Congress party to support these (reform) measures so that we are able to grow faster, we have more money, we can get rid of poverty much faster and we are able to sustain the schemes for the welfare of the poor people much faster,” Jaitley said in the Lok Sabha.
The Finance Minister maintained that the passage of the bill alone would help India achieve its “real potential” of 8-9 per cent GDP growth.
“The world is looking at us to shoulder global growth at a time of crisis. We should not send a message that our Parliamentary democracy has become an obstruction to reform process,” he added.