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NEW DELHI, Dec 20: After making a big forward movement on Goods and Services Bill, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said the government will not allow political obstructionism to delay reforms as the Constitution provides for enough safeguards to deal
with such tactics of some parties in Parliament. “The course that the new government has adopted is unalterable despite various challenges,” the Finance Minister said addressing industry leaders at the FICCI annual general meeting here.
Taking a dig at the Left parties which have aligned themselves with the Trinamool Congress in the Rajya Sabha in opposing some key reforms measures, including the Insurance Bill, Mr Jaitley quipped, “After West Bengal ,Russia and Cuba, Rajya Sabha seems to be its only and the last bastion…The last bastion will also correct itself after election results from states come.” He was referring to the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand where BJP is expecting major gains. Expecting a growth reviving to six per cent in 2015, the Finance Minister said the country has little choice but to reform and one political party, whose members, he said, are involved in a chit fund scam , cannot be allowed to divert attention by obstructing reforms in the Rajya Sabha. “We are too vibrant a democracy to allow these kind of tactics to go through…” he said.
The ruling NDA does not have a majority in the Upper House making it dependent on the opposition parties for passage of the bills.
Mr Jaitley said the Prime Minister Narendra Modi is personally monitoring the progress of the projects stuck at the initial stage or at the level of implementation and the government is committed to move fast on the path of reforms, be it insurance, coal or taxation.
“Either we reform or we miss the bus again. (This) generation is not going to pardon us if we miss the bus again,” he said. MORE (UNI)
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