With the Modi government deciding not to prorogue the monsoon session of Parliament that ended on Thursday, it has kept options open of reconvening the two Houses to pass the economic reform driving GST Bill, which got stuck in the Rajya Sabha due to Opposition blocking it.
The government cannot wait till the winter session as the Bill has to be vetted by 50 per cent of the states before the new tax regime is rolled out from next financial year.
Politically too, the government would like to get the Bill out of Parliament ahead of Bihar elections to reinforce Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment to the 2014 electoral mandate which hinged on reviving the country’s sagging economy.
On Thursday, the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs decided not to recommend immediate prorogation of both the Houses after they were adjourned sine die completing 17 working days.
If the Centre requests the President to prorogue both the Houses, reconvening Parliament would be time consuming due to technical reasons.
"I will not reveal the strategy but I would clearly say we are determined and it would be our endeavour to roll out GST from April 1, 2016," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.
Published 13 August 2015, 19:13 IST