GST Bill taken up in Lok Sabha

The long—delayed Goods and Services (GST) Bill was taken up for consideration in the Lok Sabha today after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley appealed to parties to rise above partisan considerations to support it but its fate in Rajya Sabha was still a matter of speculation.

While in the Lok Sabha, the government does not have much of a problem in getting the measure through with support from BJP and its allies and possibly parties like Trinamool Congress, the measure’s fate is uncertain in Rajya Sabha where it lacks numbers.

The Parliamentary Parties of both BJP and the Congress are meeting tomorrow to take stock of the situation.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu has already meet leaders of allied parties and urged them to ensure their MPs are present in full numbers in the Lok Sabha to ensure the bill’s passage.

Congress Deputy Leader in Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma, however, made his party’s position clear when he said while they supported GST regime, the present bill needs legislative scrutiny, an apparent demand for reference to the standing committee.

The Constitution amendment bill for rolling in the new tax regime was taken up in the Lok Sabha up after the Chair rejected opposition demands to refer the key reform measure to a parliamentary Standing Committee.

After procedural wrangling that lasted half an hour before the debate on the bill began, Jaitley dismissed the opposition demand saying it was wrong to argue that the measure had never been to a standing committee.

“It has spent two and half years before the standing committee. Thereafter, it has been to dozens and dozens of empowered committees of finance ministers under three different FMs and four different chairpersons.

“It is only after this a consensus was reached between the centre and the state government and almost a near unanimity has been achieved,” he said.

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