BJP Bihar defeat unlikely to have economic implications, says Fitch Ratings

On the specific question of the pending Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill, he hoped that Bihar, which is a consuming state, would support the legislation.

The winter session is expected to begin in the third week of November.

There is no fourth person in the party or the government. The government was planning to implement GST from 1 April, but pushed back the date to the beginning of any month in 2016-17. By seeing the results, it is clear that NDA is totally wiped out from Bihar.

On whether he would talk to Nitish Kumar for supporting GST, he said, “I will speak to the new government that they should support the Bill”.

Bihar wasn’t going to tilt the game in BJPs favour but a win would have ensured that it gets a few of the five of the 16 Rajya Sabha seats up for grabs next year. He also mentioned how supporters of Modi are abusing him on social media and did not even chose to spare his specially challenged son who is suffering from cerebral palsy.

Other major reforms legislation like the bankruptcy law, the real estate regulatory authority bill and labour reforms are also likely to face increased opposition in Parliament.

Admitting that a few irresponsible statements by certain BJP functionaries during the course of elections did change the narrative, Jaitley said the “index of opposition unity” was one of the biggest factors that led to the victory of the Mahagathbandhan in the Bihar assembly elections. Given that a few of these seats are already held by the party or alliance partners, the net addition to the NDA could be around 20-24 seats.

“The Congress is the only party which has reservations on the issue”.

The Bihar defeat will hamper PM Modi’s push to pass economic reforms; he needs to win most state elections in the next three years to gain full control of parliament. “Open door and open minds are now a must for the BJP. The structural reforms will continue at a rapid pace and wait for the next budget for any announcement on taxes”.

Kumar suggested that the Union government undertake four key tasks: “Acceleration of development agenda; a few headline reforms; better communication; and making people part of the reform process and not mere spectators”.

He said that politicians should present themselves in a humble way in a country like India.

Centre is committed to special package for Bihar.