Congress joins TMC to skip midnight GST session

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) is set to be rolled out across the country from the midnight of June 30 in a “tryst with destiny”-style ceremony in Parliament where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the key speaker, like the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Such midnight sessions of Parliament have only been staged three times before.

The Congress has decided to boycott the June 30 special midnight session. Its spokesperson Satyavrat Chaturvedi said, “The Congress will not attend the special GST meeting on its implementation.” The decision came after a meeting between Congress president Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other leaders on Thursday.

Sources said Congress leaders weighed the party’s options, as a group within felt the GST was the party’s brainchild that has now been taken over by the BJP, and thus favoured attending the meeting. However, some leaders felt the GST is being implemented in a haste and all aspects haven’t been taken into consideration leading to harassment of small traders and businessmen and thus, the party should abstain. Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress has announced its decision to keep away from the meeting.