Rajya Sabha returns Manipur budget, GST bill

NEW DELHI: The Rajya Sabha on Monday returned the Manipur Appropriation Bill, 2025, and The Manipur Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2025 amid opposition protests over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) issue.

A brief debate on the Bills was also held.

The Manipur Appropriation Bill authorises payment and appropriation of certain sums out of the Consolidated Fund of the State of Manipur for services of the financial year 2025-26.

The Manipur Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2025, which seeks to implement the decisions approved by the GST Council, would replace the Manipur Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025.

Opposition MPs, who took out a march to the Election Commission's headquarters on Monday, but were stopped midway and detained, reached the Upper House as the debate on the bills was being undertaken.

Opposition MPs wanted Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge to be allowed to speak, and they raised slogans against the ongoing SIR exercise in Bihar. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman slammed the Opposition for opposing the Manipur budget.

She said while the Opposition speaks about Manipur, when its budget and GST bills are being taken up, they are not just protesting on some other issue, but also voting against it.

Opposition MPs, many of whom were in the Well of the House, were heard saying "no" as voting on the Bill was going on.

The two Bills, which were both Money Bills, were returned to the Lok Sabha through voice vote.