Govt lists GST Bill for passage in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday

The goods and services tax (GST) bill has been listed for discussion and passage in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

“If the Bill is not passed during the current session, it will be tabled in November”. Except the Congress, all the opposition parties want that the house should function.

Sources also indicated that the government was in touch with the Opposition and could even consider calling a special session or reconvening Parliament after Independence Day to pass the Bill. The Congress has 68 seats.

Some ministers in the government saw the silver lining in these developments and put in place the plan to push the GST Bill.

Singh said the government was trying its best to pass the GST Bill in Parliament but due to the continuous disruption of the House by the opposition, the effort has not been successful.

On Monday, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav issued an ultimatum to the Congress, saying, “Enough is enough…”

Meanwhile, the Congress has already launched a nationwide campaign to brand the Bill as anti-farmer.

Jaitley also criticised Congress president Sonia Gandhi for her adamant stand in both the houses of parliament. If the latter chooses to continue obstructing functioning of the House, it could be labelled opposing the government’s reformist agenda. Following passage from the Lok Sabha, where the government enjoys a majority, the bill was blocked in Rajya Sabha by members of Congress, CPI(M), CPI and AIADMK, citing certain provisions in the law which could adversely affect the inland traders. “If GST is implemented, we can attract more investment and our GDP will increase by 2%”, he added.

The move follows a key meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in Chennai last week. “But why should we when we have not done anything wrong?” said Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu. “Parties like the Left, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Nationalist Congress Party are with us”, a senior Congress member from the Lok Sabha said on condition of anonymity.

The controversial Land Acquisition Bill will be presented in Parliament in the next winter session as the Joint Committee of Parliament, reviewing the legislation, on Monday decided to seek more time to finalise its report.

Feb ’06: Then finance minister P Chidambaram proposes GST in Budget speech.