New Delhi, June 29 (PTI/IANS): Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today appealed to 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.
Urging the opposition parties to “display broad shoulders”, he said they should not “disassociate” from the decision they were a party to.
The Goods and Services Tax, which will unify a dozen state and central levies to weave India into one market, is the biggest tax reform since the Independence, he told reporters here.
First Trinamool Congress and today Congress and Left parties decided to boycott the midnight function in protest against the way GST is being implemented, adversely impacting small and medium enterprises.
Hundreds of decisions on GST including rules as also the tax rates were taken by consensus in the GST Council which comprises of not just the Centre but also representatives of all states run by different political parties, he said.
Jaitley said a party to such consultation and decision making process must also accept that GST is not just a decision of the central government but an equal decision of 31 states and UTs.
The government, he said, remains committed to GST as to any other reform process because it believes that this is probably the single most important taxation reform in 70 years.
GST, he said, is in the national interest. “Every political party should have the courage to own up a reform for which they had voted for.”
Jaitley hoped that the parties which have decided not to participate in the inaugural function will reconsider their positions.
The government, he said, is committed to economic reforms. “We will continue to do economic reforms and our approach has been that we discuss with every political party and state government (on these reforms) and then decide,” he said.
Congress to boycott GST rollout in Parliament
The Congress decided on Thursday to boycott the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rollout in Parliament on Friday, saying the country was “ill-prepared” for its implementation and the Central Hall should not be used for such midnight functions.
The decision was announced by Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Ghulam Nabi Azad who said such midnight sessions had only been held on three occasions related to the country’s Independence.
Congress leaders also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was quiet on incidents of violence in different parts of the country and farmers were committing suicide.
The leaders said the government was seeking to gain publicity for itself by holding a midnight function for GST roll out.
Azad said three midnight functions held in the Central Hall - in 1947, 1972 and 1997 - were all related to Independence.
“Probably for BJP, the years 1947, 1972 and 1997 are not important as they did not take part in the freedom struggle,” Azad said.
Party leader Anand Sharma said that the “country is ill-prepared for roll out of GST”.
He said the GST had been conceptualised by the Congress and BJP had stalled its roll out for seven years.
“We repeatedly cautioned the government that it is not one nation-one tax, neither is it a perfect bill,” Sharma said.
