BJP says Congress will lose credibility if RS does not pass GST Bill

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday said it hoped that the Rajya Sabha would pass the Goods and Services Tax Bill, a day after its passage through the Lok Sabha.

"Despite a Congress walkout, the GST Bill has now been passed in the Lok Sabha. It will now have to get the approval of the Rajya Sabha before it goes to various state assemblies to pass the legislation. We certainly hope that in Rajya Sabha also the GST Bill will be passed because the Congress demand to refer it to a standing committee is completely unwarranted. The Bill has gone to the a standing

committee for two-and-a-half years," said BJP spokesperson G V L Narasimha Rao.

He warned that if the Congress tries to block the Bill in the Rajya Sabha, they won't deserve any credit for piloting the legislation during their stint in power at the centre.

"So, it is time for us to pass the bill rather than simply delay it any further. We expect that the Congress Party will support it in the Rajya Sabha, and if they don't do it, I think they won't deserve any credit for having piloted this legislation during their regime. The people will see through the Congress' game of preventing and blocking all important economic legislations that are very crucial for the country's economic growth," Rao added.

The Congress Party had yesterday boycotted the voting process in the Lok Sabha over a demand that a parliamentary panel review it.

One of the major reforms proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the GST Bill has been projected by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley as the biggest reform initiative in India since 1947. He has said it could add up to two percentage points to the growth of the economy.