After Bihar, JD-U likely to make a U-turn on GST bill
NEW DELHI: The victory of the grand alliance in Bihar is likely to echo in the Parliament when the Winter Session begins with Janata Dal (United) indicating that it will go with the larger opposition unity on the Goods and Service Tax (GST) Bill, which it had earlier supported.
The Centre has argued that Bihar will benefit from the rolling out of the GST and it was the major reason behind JD(U) supporting it.
With opposition parties buoyant after NDA’s drubbing in Bihar, senior JD(U) leaders have said they will take a final call only after consulting other parties.
“There are new circumstances. We will take a decision in consultation with other opposition parties,” a JD(U) MP said.
Congress, a part of the grand alliance, has opposed certain provisions of the reform bill and blocked its passage in the Monsoon Session of the Parliament over a host of issues, including the alleged corruption of some top BJP leaders.
RJD leaders have said a final decision will be taken in the coming days.
With the Congress being the biggest opposition party, the two regional parties believe that they must take its concerns on the bill into account.
BJP’s ambitious GST Bill would remain one of the highlights during the Winter Session of the Parliament which begins November 26.
Meanwhile, expressing concern over slowdown in the pace of reforms, Standard & Poor’s has said India’s rating could come under stress if the government fails to pursue reforms agenda and overshoots fiscal deficit target. It ruled out a rat- ing upgrade for the country in the next 12-18 months but said that in case the government is able to get the GST bill passed in the forthcoming Winter Session of Parliament, it would be a credit positive.
“GST will bring in a simple tax regime and a business friendly environment. Passage of GST bill will be credit positive for India. It would indicate that government’s reform initiative is picking pace with a strong momentum,” S&P’s Rating Services India Sovereign Analyst Kyran Curry said, adding that in past six months, the progress of reform has slowed down.