Cong, BJP states to both ratify GST speedily

Congress party leader Veerappa Moily said the party's eight state governments would try to ratify the Constitutional amendment to enable a national goods and services tax (GST) as soon as possible.

"Our governments will not be an obstacle. It is a win-win situation for all states," he said.

The Lok Sabha on Monday cleared the amendment as passed by the Rajya Sabha last week. Now, of the 29 states, a minimum of 15 need to ratify the amendment for it get the presidential assent and become law. Passage by a simple majority will suffice.

Government ministers have asked 13 states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party and/or its allies to call special sessions of their legislative assemblies to ratify.

The Maharashtra assembly session ended on Friday but is yet to be prorogued. This would facilitate a sitting at short notice to ratify. Assembly sessions in Assam and Goa are scheduled to end on Fridayt but both might extend this. West Bengal could ratify at a special assembly session at the end of the month. Bihar has already committed to calling a special session.

Thought the Constitution counts only state votes for ratification, nothing stops Union Territory legislatures from also scheduling one, though this would not affect the outcome either way. Sources in the Aam Aadmi Party's government in Delhi said the city's assembly would ratify if an official communication is received from the Centre before the start of its session on August 22.

The Congress has governments in Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Manipur, and in the UT of Puducherry.

The BJP and/or its allies have governments in Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Nagaland.