It’s a Publicity Stunt, Can’t be Party to GST ‘Tamasha’: Congress

Former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will skip the midnight GST launch.

Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge with other leaders addressing the media to announce the partys boycott of the GST Midnight Session.

(Photo: PTI)

Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mallikarjun Kharge and Anand Sharma, in a press address on Thursday evening, spoke out against the Parliament’s midnight launch of the GST, calling it a “tamasha” and a “publicity gimmick.” Former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will not be attending the Centre’s midnight GST rollout at the Parliament’s Central Hall as his party has declared its boycott of the event.

This midnight spectacle, ignoring the harsh realities of India – farmers’ distress, violence, unemployment etc [...] – we cannot be party to such a tamasha (drama) [...]

Anand Sharma,Congress Leader

HD Deve Gowda of the Janata Dal-Secular has confirmed that he will attend the midnight GST launch at the Parliament, reported NDTV. Nitish Kumar too has confirmed his party, the Janata Dal United’s (JDU) presence at the GST midnight rollout.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday appealed to the Congress and Left parties to reconsider their decision to boycott the gala GST launch event, saying the landmark indirect tax reform was a result of joint decisions and they cannot run away from it now.

Video Editor: Mohd Irshad Alam

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