2 Years After LandSlide Victory for Narendra Modi, Rajya Sabha Still Bottleneck

Despite having won significant majority (c.64%) in the 2014 Lok Sabha (LS) elections, Narendra Modi led NDA had only 24% seats in the Rajya Sabha (RS) – the upper house. For NDA, this lack of majority in the RS has translated into delays in implementation of legislations such as GST (Goods and Services Tax), Land acquisition bill, etc.

Recently, the budget session of Feb-May 2016 saw improved co-ordination between political parties resulting in clearance of multiple legislations such as real estate bill and bankruptcy bill among others. We believe that such co-operation would still be required for at least one more year given that the composition of the RS is unlikely to change materially in the next 1 year.

During last two years, RS has seen high variation in its utilization, with working hours going as low as 11% (monsoon session 2015) to the high of 90% (budget session 2016). Co-operation with regional parties as well as with UPA (on select bills) has led to a number of bills being passed during the 2016 budget session. However, the passage of GST bill (constitution amendment) requires broader consensus – approval from 2/3rd of the members of each house and passage from at least 15 state assemblies.

The GST passage Dilemma
GST, a value added tax regime, aims to consolidate multiple indirect taxes (Central and Indian states) in India under two taxes Central and State GST, thereby easing business and movement of goods among various states. The passage of GST bill (constitution amendment) requires broader consensus – approval from 2/3rd of the members of each house and passage from at least 15 state assemblies. Based on current strength and opposition from UPA and Left parties on GST.

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