All-party meeting: Important pending bills other than GST will be passed

NEW DELHI: With just three working days left in the winter session of Parliament, a consensus finally emerged in an all-party meeting convened by Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari that important pending Bills- other than the Goods and Services Tax Bill- be passed.

Though it came as a relief to the government that the Opposition has agreed to discuss and pass important Bills including the SC/ST Atrocities (Prevention) Bill, Appropriations Bill, and Anti-Hijacking Bill, there was no agreement on the GST Bill.

This has dashed all hopes of the government meeting the April 2016 deadline for implementing the tax reform.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley urged the opposition to support the GST Bill as well but the Congress did not agree.

Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad assured the members that his party will not disrupt the House and cooperate in passage of important Bills, other than GST Bill.

He further said that the outcome of the National Herald case will not affect Congress decision to cooperate in running the House.