Congress may skip special GST session

The Congress Party is divided over participating in the Special Parliament Session convened by the NDA government on June 30 to usher in the Goods and Services Tax (GST). The special session will take place at midnight, replicating the sentiment associated with the famous 'Tryst with Destiny' speech given by the country's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. The session will be attended by the President, Vice President and former PM Manmohan Singh, apart from members of both Houses.

According to sources, a number of the party's senior leaders have strong reservations about participating in the session. However, the Congress brass is expected to take a call on it soon. Randip Surjewalan Congress media department head, said, "The party will issue a statement soon to clear the air over our participation in the GST Special Session. We will be consulting people. We cannot ignore the fact that GST will affect people."

Sources said that those who feel the party should participate in the session base their argument on the grounds that since GST was envisaged and conceived during UPA's tenure, the party should not disassociate from it. Those from the party who are not in favour of attending the session say that if the Congress supports GST, it will not be able to effectively politically attack the government on the issue of implementation as many sectors are protesting against the new tariff rates.