BJP today accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of “political opportunism” after her government deferred its move to get the GST bill ratified in the state Assembly with her party TMC alleging that the Centre was crushing the federal structure.
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“We have also allayed apprehensions of Shiv Sena on the bill”, the state Finance Minister said.
“It is a historic day in Maharashtra’s legislature as both Houses unanimously ratified the GST Bill in a special session”. The GST was conceived by Congress and the party has borne the pain of bringing in the Bill to the people, he said.
Support to the bill also came from alliance partner Shiv Sena, which had in the past raised objections to it.
Referring to changing times, Vikhe-Patil said when Narendra Modi was Gujarat chief minister, he had totally opposed GST and now as Prime Minister, he is pleading for the same GST brought by the Congress.
The bill was introduced in the Haryana Assembly by state Finance Minister Capt Abhimanyu and it was passed after a brief debate. “States which were so far lagging behind Maharashtra in development, will catch up with us as a result of the GST”, he said.
At least half of the states in the country need to approve the Constitution amendment bill, which has already been ratified by eight state assemblies including Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh.
“GST Bill is a Congress’s baby and it is a simplified tax”.
Chaudhary said the state might face revenue loss of Rs 9,000 crore because of GST and asked the government how it will ensure to neutralize the same.
The government has set a deadline of April, 2017 for its roll-out.
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While manufactured consumer goods will become cheaper as the incidence of excise duty and Value-Added Tax will come down from 25-26 per cent at present, the cost of services would by and large, go up from the present 15 per cent levels.
