Congress leader Jairam Ramesh had said this was the first occasion in independent India that the Prime Minister was not present during the passage of a Constitution amendment bill.
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On the legal side, once the states ratify the Constitution amendment bill, the central government has to pass an integrated law as also a central GST law, and the states have to pass their own legislations as well.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who was addressing the same press conference, said that the prices of some goods and services is expected to come down once the GST is rolled out.
If Congress party supported the Bill, it is because they are under pressure from corporate, but the AIADMK party is not. Parliament appeared to be PM-mukt”, he said, noting that Modi was not present in Lok Sabha when the GST bill was passed a year ago. BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya spoke to the chiefs of the party’s state units, advising not to engage MPs in any organisational activities until the bill is passed by Lok Sabha.
The CPI (M) leader also voiced apprehension that the bill could be introduced in the form of Money Bill to deprive the Rajya Sabha from taking it up.
On the Prime Minister’s instruction, senior BJP leaders contacted 11 chief ministers by Friday evening and suggested that the Assemblies that are now in session can approve the 122nd constitutional amendment Bill immediately, while other states can convene a special session to take it up.
The government’s chief economic adviser has proposed a band of 17-19 per cent for the GST rate, but some states have said it must be higher than 20 per cent to offset revenue losses.
Passing it in the Lok Sabha will be easy as the government enjoys a majority there.
GST to be tabled in Lok Sabha on Monday.
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The GST implementation will bring uniform tax rate throughout the country and will help in seamless movement of goods and services across the states, Amat said. The GST constitutional amendment bill was finally passed by the upper house of parliament on Wednesday evening.
