BJP won’t support banking amendment Bill, says Yashwant

Dashing hopes that the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2011 could be approved without much trouble in the Lok Sabha during the winter session, senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha Thursday said his party would continue to oppose it unless it is referred to the standing committee on finance to examine a new clause that permits banks to trade in commodity futures.

"The government can either send it to the standing committee or delete that clause. I would personally think that any insistence on this clause relating to forward contract would create problems. And on behalf of the BJP, I can say that we will oppose that provision," Sinha, who heads the standing committee on finance, said at The Indian Express 'Idea Exchange' interaction.

Finance minister P Chidambaram had Wednesday expressed hope that the Bill, which is crucial for granting new bank licenses, would be passed after he had spoken to the two leaders of opposition, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley.

Sinha also said the BJP would not support increasing FDI in the insurance sector to 49 per cent from 26 per cent. In an indication that the proposed goods and services tax may be further delayed, Sinha said the standing committee has suspended discussions over the constitutional amendment Bill for GST.

"The delay is not with the committee but with the government," said Sinha, who was finance minister in the NDA government. The committee was earlier expected to submit its report by the end of the year to facilitate early implementation of the tax.

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