JD(U) leaves it to members to decide on attending GST event

Walking a tightrope, the JD(U) has left it to its MPs to decide whether they want to attend the GST launch event in Parliament tomorrow or not.

The Nitish Kumar-led party had earlier been in favour of attending the event, but it was wary of further alienating its allies in Bihar, the Congress and the RJD, after its decision to support the NDA candidate in the presidential polls invited angry reactions from them.

Its two allies have announced boycotting the event.

While senior JD(U) leader and Rajya Sabha member Sharad Yadav is likely to skip the midnight event, several party MPs say they are yet to get an instruction about whether to attend it or not.

The party has 12 members in Parliament.

Its spokesperson K C Tyagi said his party supported the Goods and Services Tax as it would benefit Bihar which consumed more than its manufacturing output, but agreed with the criticism of the Congress over the "hype" the government had given to the event.

"We have supported the GST and Bihar was among the first states to endorse it... However the way the government is projecting this as India's economic liberation is very unfortunate. It is just a reform measure. We have left it to our MPs to decide about attending the event," he said.

The Congress today decided to boycott the government's special midnight meeting on GST, calling it a "grand self- promoting tamasha (gimmick)".

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)