GST bill fate rests with regional parties

The fate of the long- delayed Goods and Services ( GST) Bill is in the hands of the regional parties after the non- NDA parties, especially the main Opposition Congress, demanded that it should be sent to a standing committee for parliamentary scrutiny.

The bill was taken up for consideration in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

The BJP, which had blocked the Goods and Services bill for long during the UPA regime when it was in the Opposition, is pressing for its passage.

While the government floor managers are confident to get numbers in the Lok Sabha during a voting on it, their managerial skill will be tested in the Rajya Sabha.

There, the Congress, BJD, AIADMK and the Left will press for sending it to a select committee.

“We are not for delaying the bill but has been wanting for a parliamentary scrutiny,” said a Congress leader.

The role of the Trinamul Congress, Samajwadi Party, BSP, NCP, JD( U), TRS, PDP, YSR Congress will be important on the floor when the Constitution Amendment Bill put to vote in the Lok Sabha. Now, the real issue is can the Trinamul Congress, JD( U), SP, BSP afford to be friendly with the Modi government on certain issues ahead of the Assembly polls in Bihar, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh?

At the AICC briefing, party spokesman Gaurav Gogoi lamented the Narendra Modi dispensation’s frequent attempts to “bypass” the parliamentary standing committee route for bills.

“Out of 51 bills brought by the government, only seven have been referred to the standing committee. Why the standing committee route is being bypassed?” he asked making a strong pitch for the GST bill to be referred to such a panel.

At the same time, he said that the Congress was all for the bill “in principle”.