New Delhi: Goods and Services Tax Bill or GST Bill may soon see the light of the day as those who had opposed the bill so far are moving closer to supporting the long-pending tax reform.
GST Bill, which has already been passed by the Lok Sabha, is pending before the Rajya Sabha as ruling NDA is in minority in the upper house. According to a report by Times of India, around 163 MPs could support the bill. If government is able to reach a middle ground with AIADMK which had concerns about the bill, its 12 MPs might abstain from voting.
65 UPA MPs are against the bill who is unlikely to fudge from their stand. 10 Left MPs have not officially declared their support but govt is inching towards narrowing differences with CPM, the report said.
Odisha's ruling BJD has had concerns over royalties for minerals but will support the bill.
Though Congress may not have the numbers to stop the bill from passing, it has the strength to disrupt the House. The government hopes to persuade Congress to drop its insistence on writing an 18% rate into the amendment bill.
If AIADMK members abstain from the voting on bill, the effective strength of the House will be 229, considering the strength of House is currently 241. With support of 163 MPs, the govt has 71% members on its side.
The govt will have no trouble in passing the legislation if AIADMK finally decides to support it. The Left has also indicated its support to the GST bill during recent meetings between Kerala CM Pinnarayi Vijayan and finance minister Arun Jaitley.
