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The GST Bill passed in the Rajya Sabha but that did not stop former FM P Chidambaram from looking to corner the glory for Congress even as FM Arun Jaitley said that the Narendra Modi govt and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had not 'really' opposed the legislation and that there was no U-turn by party when it has come to power. The accusations flew thick and fast, but no cheap shots were taken – the bonhomie was fascinating. Was it a stalemate between the Congress and the govt? Did the Congress draw blood. Did Narendra Modi government lose? Check out what the comments were all about: (PTI)
In a cutting attack, P Chidambaram said the GST Bill draft was "clumsy" while referring to the third amendment in the government's list which went like this: "amount apportioned to a State under clause 1 should not go to the Consolidated Fund". Chidambaram said the govt should have been more decisive and should have mentioned where the fund would go. (PTI) 
Not cowed down in the least, Arun Jaitley replied: "Chidambaram mentioned that the bill has a clumsy drafting because it says that some of the revenue collected will not be a part of the Consolidated Fund of India or the Consolidated Fund of the state and the argument was that every revenue has to go into the Consolidated Fund. The response is that I think using the word clumsy drafting is a bit too extreme an expression. I think the best draftsperson India ever had was B.N. Rau, who aided Dr. Ambedkar. The phrase you have called clumsy drafting is verbatim the Article 268 (2) of original Constitution." (PTI) 
To clinch the argument against P Chidambaram, Arun Jaitley quoted from the Constitution: "The proceeds of any financial year of any such duty leviable in any state shall not form a part of the Consolidated Fund of India but shall be assigned to that state".(PTI) 
Not willing to give up without a fight, Chidambaram defiantly replied: "I certainly do not claim to be as wise or as clever as late B.N. Rau. It doesn't stop there; it says shall not form part of the Consolidated Fund of India but shall be assigned to that state. All I am pointing out is that when you say in your amendment number three that such amount shall not form part of the Consolidated Fund of India you should have added what happens to the money; it has to go somewhere". (PTI) 
Not willing to admit defeat, Jaitley called Chidambaram called it as "hair splitting" and said: "If you go back to the sub-clause 1, it clearly says 'shall be apportioned in the Union and states in the manner provided' and then it further says in 1 (A) that 'this amount apportioned to a state should not be part of the Consolidated Fund', so it exactly says what you wanted to say." (PTI) 
So, Chidambaram got Arun Jaitley to say what he wanted and the FM himself sought to absolve the Narendra Modi govt of all blame about the GST Bill. Who won? You take a call. Even as this issue was being hotly debated, another one cropped up and that stemmed from teh fear that the Narendra Modi govt would tag GST Bill as a 'Money Bill' that would then not allow the Opposition the chance to discuss it. Chidambaram wanted the government to assure that it will not bring the next two bills on central and state GST as money bills. Without batting an eyelid, Arun Jaitley refused to give his assurance, but added as an aiside: "We have no intention of getting the bill passed without discussions with you. This house will always have an opportunity to discuss the bills." (PTI)
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