CONFRONTATION LIKELY IN LS OVER GST BILL TODAY

Finance minister Arun Jaitley Tuesday requested the Opposition to “rise above partisan considerations” to support the goods and services tax (GST) bill and enable the roll-out of the new tax regime by April 1, 2016.

Pegged as the biggest overhaul of the India’s tax system, the bill that faces the Lok Sabha test Wednesday proposes to stitch a common national market by replacing local levies with a single tax.

During a discussion in the Lok Sabha Tuesday, a majority of Opposition MPs spoke in favour of the GST regime, but demanded the bill be referred to the parliamentary standing committee. Government sources claimed chief ministers of Odisha, West Bengal and Bihar were on board.

Responding to wrangling between the treasury and opposition benches over procedural issues, Jaitley said it was after long deliberations that a consensus was reached between the Centre and states. “Why delay the measure by one more fiscal year?” he asked.

Parliamentary affairs minister M Venkaiah Naidu met leaders of NDA partners to ensure full attendance of their members in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday to ensure the bill’s passage.

The gover nment has the numbers in the House to ensure the bill’s passage. In the Rajya Sabha, where the government is outweighed by the opposition, the Congress strategy is likely to be influenced by the stand taken by regional parties. Deputy speaker M Thambidurai, who was in the chair, pointed out that BJD’s Bharatuhari Mahtab had requested Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to send the bill to the standing committee as it was an altogether a new measure.

“The finance minister had requested the Speaker against referring it to the standing committee and she has accepted the government’s request after the finance minister pointed out that the proposed measure had already been scrutinized by a parliamentary standing committee for two-and-a-half years and also by an empowered committee of state finance ministers,” he said.

Congress leader M Veerappa Moily said he supported the GST regime, but opposed the bill and demanded it be sent to the standing committee for “wider consultations”.