New Delhi: As the Narendra Modi-led NDA government is gearing up for the historic launch of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime at midnight on June 30, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi will meet former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday to decide whether her party should join or skip the event.
"What these two leaders decide, will seal the fate whether Congress will join the GST rollout celebration event or not. Other senior leaders are of the view that keeping traders' sentiments in mind, one should avoid going to GST midnight event," a senior Congress figure was quoted as saying by the India Today.
The Jammu and Kashmir government will also take a final call on implementation of the GST today.
Importantly, Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) and M Karunanidi's Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) have already announced their decision to boycott the event.
Many in Congress are of the view that the main Opposition party should boycott the historic GST launch. However, since Manmohan Singh has been invited as a special guest - which means he'll share the dais with President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi - the Congress is in a fix on the issue.
During today's meet the two top Congress leaders will discuss the pros and cons of attending the event, as some within the party fear a fallout like demonetisation.
The grand old party is expected to announce its final decision at a special press conference later today.
Interestingly, the Congress' managers are not reaching out to other political outfits, like they usually do to take consensus decisions on issues.
Meanwhile, Haryana Congress leaders, led by former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, will join textile traders protesting against GST in Rohtak, home to the biggest cloth market in the region.
Opposition parties like Nationalist Congress Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal have also called meetings of their respective party leaders today to finalise their strategies.
Meanwhile, a mega rehearsal was conducted on Wednesday night in the Central Hall of Parliament ahead of the historic launch of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) at midnight on June 30.
The event to launch the GST will be held in the circular-shaped Central Hall, which witnessed a function to mark 50 years of Independence, and will be attended by President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and a host of senior ministers and bureaucrats, among others.
Mukherjee had piloted the first Constitutional Amendment Bill to bring in GST in 2011 when he was finance minister with the previous UPA government. The final event is likely to start at 11 pm on June 30 and will be on till half past midnight.
