GST rollout: Congress' opposition to midnight launch is an extension of its dynastic politics

Rahul Gandhi has found a simple formula to ensure that his absence in the Central Hall of the Parliament is neither missed nor questioned when President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi press the GST app button at midnight to make a tryst with the new one nation one tax policy, and that is to make the entire Congress party — 45 Lok Sabha and 58 Rajya Sabha MPs — as well as special invitees such as former prime minister Manmohan Singh and finance ministers of Congress-ruled states abstain from the momentous event.

The idea, it seems, is if none of the Congress members are present in the Parliament House then you can’t point fingers and ask where is Rahul Gandhi. Why is he holidaying abroad when the Parliament is to host an event that is set to impact the entire length and breadth of the country and every Indian citizen in some way or the other. Why does he have scant regard for the Parliament and its domestic politics?

He chose to give a miss to the debate on farmers’ distress apart from making a guest appearance and playing hide and seek with Madhya Pradesh Police on the Rajathan-Madhya Pradesh border less than 24 hours before he left the Indian shores to land in the cooler confines of the western world. He also chose to miss the opposition parties’ unity meets and the nomination of their presidential candidate. The Congress’ problem, however, is that it needs to protect the perceived aura of the party’s eternal soon-to-be-president.

The party couldn’t afford to be seen isolated in its boycott. So, its leaders dialled numbers of some other opposition leaders who would go to any extent to be seen opposed to anything that relates to Modi even if they are not exactly on Congress’s side. Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Mamata Banerjee’s TMC, the Left parties, Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, Karunanidhi’s DMK responded to Congress’s call to boycott the GST rollout. Leaders of Congress and its allied parties are either facing the brunt of investigations by central agencies on corruption, or, are facing existential crisis. What Congress leaders don’t realise is that in the process, the tall talks of opposition unity have been broken into pieces. Parties like NCP, TRS, AIADMK, YSR Congress, BJD, JD(U), JD(S), INLD and Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samjawadi Party, which also sit in the opposition benches are going to attend the special session.

Congress and some other like-minded parties have once again displayed the politics of negativism and cynicism. The Congress has, obviously, not learnt lessons from its electoral defeats and the continued erosion of its support base, nor does it have any willingness to do a genuine brainstorming to review its position.

The GST, after all, was Congress’ baby, and that too of the Manmohan Singh government, which functioned under the command and control of Rahul and Sonia Gandhi. The party by making its presence felt in the Parliament could have safely claimed credit for the Act. Finance minister Arun Jaitley on multiple occasions has given due credit to Congress. Finance ministers of Congress-ruled states, Left-ruled Kerala and Tripura, TMC’s West Bengal and Samjawadi Party’s Uttar Pradesh (where Akhilesh Yadav ruled till over three months ago) were all part of the GST Council which unanimously formulated all the rules and regulations for the new tax regime.

No doubt, the Parliament House’s special session on GST will have the resonance of a trademark Modi event, but there couldn’t be a rational counter to his idea of holding a midnight session with the president, prime minister and finance minister addressing the nation to mark the launch of one of the biggest reforms since Independence. The new tax regime will come into force from the midnight of 1 July, 2017.

Also the Parliament of India signifies the federal structure of Indian polity. GST is well, and truly reflects that federal nature. The invitation to all members of GST Council — finance ministers of all the states — was thus honourably issued. The invitation to two former prime ministers — HD Deve Gowda and Manmohan Singh — to be seated at the podium was in the same spirit. Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is not in a position to move due to health reasons. So was the invite to former celebrity MPs including Amitabh Bachchan and Lata Mangeshkar whose persona is reflective of Indian society and art. In the same line, industry and business magnates were invited to be a part of this historic occasion.

The Congress calls the special midnight session of the Parliament as an “insult to the freedom fighters”. The party’s argument is that a midnight session could only be associated with India’s independence, and thus the only three times such session had been held was in 1947, in 1972 (25 years of independence and 1997 (50 years of independence).

Thus as per Congress’ wisdom, the special midnight session can only be convened in 2022 (75 years of independence) and 2047 (100 years of independence).

What Congress wants to say, but is not summoning the courage to say, is that nobody can ever have the right to compete with Jahawarlal Nehru’s midnight “tryst with destiny” speech at midnight of 14 August, 1947. All midnight events associated with the Independence will have a recall value of Nehru’s famous speech.

By Congress’ logic the Parliament of India must never meet at midnight howsoever demanding the situation may be; it, and if ever it has to be convened, it must relate with Nehru, is a laughable argument. India of 2017 though remembers and pays a rich tribute to its freedom fighters and other national heroes it has moved beyond politics of entitlement and single family dynastic succession rule.

The Congress leaders are advised to read a recent article former finance minister P Chidambaram . “Not many years ago we made a tryst with destination tax, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but we hope substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when businesspersons and consumers spend a sleepless night, India will awake to a new tax regime. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in our economic history, when we step out from the old to the new, when a century ends, and when the tax payers of a nation, long oppressed, hope to find a new dawn…. It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her tax payers and to the still larger cause of tax justice.”