Govt confident of passing GST Bill in monsoon session

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government at the Centre is confident of getting the goods and services tax (GST) Bill passed in the monsoon session of Parliament. The reason lies in the expected change in members in the Upper House. By the time it meets in July, the Rajya Sabha will have 53 newly elected members, a fifth of its total strength.

The 53 members who are retiring were elected in 2010 when the Congress was the dominant party in several states, including Karnataka, unified Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. The new members will reflect the changed political realities in several of these states. States such as Maharashtra and Jharkhand now have BJP-led governments. The Telugu Desam Party, a BJP ally, has a government in Andhra Pradesh, while the Telangana Rashtra Samiti government in Telangana is also considered supportive of the government at the Centre.

The Congress numbers are expected to dwindle, while that of the BJP and its allies are set to increase. The Congress with 65 members is currently the single largest party in the Upper House. But, it could lose that perch with as many as 13 of its MPs retiring and only a third returning.

At the moment, the BJP has 49 members in the Rajya Sabha, while the party-led National Democratic Alliance's tally is 68. These numbers are set to increase. The government can also count on the support of a majority of the nominated members.

The BJP expects that several small parties will also recalibrate their Rajya Sabha strategies once the Congress ceases to be the dominant force in the Upper House. The decreased Congress numbers, the government hopes, will not only help the passage of GST, but also other legislative agenda.

"Currently, many regional parties have to support Congress positions in the name of Opposition unity. But, this will change after the monsoon session," said a senior minister.