The Left and Congress parties will not take parts in the special midnight meeting on 30 June convened by the central government to launch the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
CPI leader D Raja said the parties will not take part in the meeting in view of protest by small and medium scale entrepreneurs, traders, weavers and informal sector workers on the way the GST is being implemented.
“The Left will not be participating in the midnight GST meeting. People are agitating across the county. There are serious apprehensions in the minds of people over GST’s implementation. We cannot be celebrating when people are agitating,” the Rajya Sabha member said.
Addressing a press conference, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said the Congress party will boycott the GST celebration to be held on 30 June midnight for the rollout of GST in Parliament’s Central Hall.
He said there were two reasons for Congress’ boycott.
“First till now, only three midnight celebrations are held in Central Hall i.e. 15 August 1947, 1972 freedom silver jubilee and 1997 freedom golden jubilee. Second, the Prime Minister and his party leaders are not taking cognizance of farmers’ distress, brutal killing of Dalits and the minorities people, rising unemployment, border insecurity, etcetera,” he said.
Another Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said that under the tenure of United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government some laws were amended for the benefit of people but the grand old party never celebrated it like this way.
“We are boycotting this midnight celebration. In UPA government; Right to Information (RTI) Act, Food Security Act, MNREGA, Right to Education laws were passed which were beneficial for people. But, we never made celebration for such things in central hall. The BJP is doing publicity only in which they are master,” Kharge said.
The Trinamool Congress has already decided not to attend the midnight programme as a mark of protest against the “unnecessary disastrous hurry” to roll out the pan-India tax regime.
Sources said the Trinamool Congress is keen that the Congress too adopt the same course.
