Due to the tough stand taken by leaders from Jammu and Ladakh, the Congress has decided to support the extension of GST to J&K. The party has convened to its legislator, Aijaz Ahmed, who is the party’s representative in the consultative committee on the GST, to clear the Congress’ stand on the issue.
Highly placed sources said after hectic deliberations among senior leaders, a draft was prepared to extend support to the extension of GST to J&K with some conditions.
Serious differences came to the fore in the executive committee meeting of the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) as some senior leaders gave vent to their anger against ambiguous stand of the state leadership on extending the GST to J&K.
Some party leaders pointed out that it was all due to confusing stand of the leadership that the BJP had launched an offensive against the Congress for toeing separatist line on the issue. Highly placed sources said during the executive committee meeting, some members sought to draw attention of party leaders towards the aggressive campaign launched by the BJP against the party for not supporting the GST. “At the national level we are supporting the GST which is a baby of the Congress but in J&K our leadership has failed to take a stand on the issue,” a source quoting a senior party leader said and added that some leaders suggested that being a national party the Congress should not behave like a regional group in J&K.
As reported earlier, the Congress had failed to take a clear stand on extending the GST to J&K as leaders from Jammu and Ladakh regions did not see any reason to oppose the extension of the law to the state but their Valley-based counterparts are echoing the voice of the National Conference (NC) and some other groups. As the BJP has launched a campaign against the Congress for opposing the GST in J&K, Jammu-based party leaders want that the party must take clear its stand to counter the saffron party’s propaganda. Jammu-based Congress leaders have realised that a confusing stand on the GST would prove to be disastrous for the party in Jammu and Ladakh.
Cong to give go-ahead to new tax structure in J&K
