The government sources revealed that the West Bengal Assembly will be discussing the GST Bill around the first week of November. Previously, the assembly planned a two-day special session on August 26 and also proposed to rename West Bengal as Bengal, which was agreed by the members and passed later on. But, the GST bill ratification remained pending in the Assembly.
A government source stated, “The TMC government has maintained that they will ratify the GST bill. In fact, Amit Mitra is still very much involved in the process, and West Bengal is likely to ratify the bill in November.”
Notedly, State Finance Minister Amit Mitra who is also serving as the chairman of the empowered committee of state finance ministers on GST, participated in the first meeting of the GST council. Mitra believes that the ratification of GST bill is a routine task and assured that Trinamool Congress supported the GST idea before. Till now, 17 Indian states have ratified the GST bill and the changes in the GST Act will be discussed in the post-Diwali Parliament session.
A senior TMC leader said, “It is a stern message from the state government to the Centre. Mamata will not tolerate any measure that harms the state, and will play hardball if required. November is key, because the bill will once again come to Rajya Sabha in December.”
