Congress isolated on blocking GST as NCP, others pledge support to government's bill

The Congress party seems to be isolated on the issue of GST Bill. In a blow to the opposition party, its ally Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has said that it will support the bill.

This came even as the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Janata Dal-United (JDU) also pledged support to the GST bill in Parliament.

Union Finance Minister on Wednesday hit out at the Congress, saying it was opposing its own GST bill. He also asserted that the government would go ahead with passage of GST despite the opposition from the Congress party.

Earlier, the Parliamentary panel on the GST bill submitted its report to the Rajya Sabha chairman, backing the bill that has already been passed in the Lok Sabha.

The Congress has opposed the bill on the grounds that the compensation offered to state governments is inadequate while the Narendra Modi government aims to roll out GST by April 2016.

Ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had expressed hope that the GST Bill would get through in Parliament.

"Some people will try to oppose (the bills). This conflict continues in parliamentary democracy... I think passage of GST is very important. The possibility of this is high," he had said.