The Himachal Pradesh Assembly on Monday unanimously ratified the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill on the first day of its five-day Monsoon Session. The Bill was introduced by the Chief Minister and immediately accepted by the opposition benches and was passed by a voice vote and without any discussion. The hill State has become the fourth State after Assam, Bihar and Jharkhand to ratify the GST Bill. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh told reporters that the GST Bill was basically brought by the Congress led UPA government. Calling it a single biggest tax reform he said it would help in trade, services and commerce.
The Bhartiya Janata Party MLAs earlier in the day staged a walkout when the Speaker refused to entertain their privilege motion against the Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh whom they alleged had made a very derogatory remark against all the opposition MLAs on August 4. The Chief Minister when confronted with the allegation, said he had never used such insulting words for the BJP legislators. It was a media creation, he said.
The BJP has blamed the Chief Minister for callings its MLAs as municipal committee workers who are not fit to become legislators. The matter was raised by the Chief Party Whip and Shimla MLA Suresh Bhardwaj. He said the Chief Minister has not only insulted the opposition MLAs but also the entire State Assembly.
