Oppn unity over GST boycott cracks with NCP, SP, JD(U) deciding to attend

Traders' bandh call partially successful, as CAIT decides not to join

The Congress efforts to forge Opposition unity on the issue of boycott of the midnight special session to mark the rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) failed when several of the smaller parties expressed their intent to attend the event. Sources said the turnaround happened after the government reached out to these parties.

But protests and shutdowns across the country, including in the national capital, were evidence of growing concerns among traders and small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Traders downed shutters in several parts of the country and also blocked road and train traffic at some places.

Among the political parties, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, and rest of his party Members of Parliament, were slated to attend the midnight function. Senior leader Tariq Anwar said his party had supported the legislation during its passage and there was no reason for it to skip the function.

The Janata Dal (United) also said its representatives would attend, led by a minister from Bihar. But in a balancing act, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and senior leader Sharad Yadav will skip the ceremony.

On Thursday, the Congress had announced its boycott of the function. Trinamool Congress is also boycotting the function, as are Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Left parties and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).

Today, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said GST would bring back the dreaded "Inspector Raj". Banerjee said she was shocked to find the GST rules contain a "draconian arrest clause" and could lead to harassment of small traders and businesses.

GST protests

According to reports from across the country, the traders' strike against the GST rollout was partially successful.

The trade bandh was called by the Bharatiya Udyog Vyapar Mandal, which claims to represent 17,000 traders' and SMEs associations across the country.

However, Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), another traders' outfit, didn't participate. But its chief Praveen Khandelwal said the government "must take trader associations across the country into confidence and address their concerns."

PTI reported commercial establishments in major cities in Madhya Pradesh remaining shut to protest "anomalies and complexities" of the GST system. Shops in main cities like Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior, and Jabalpur downed their shutters while commercial activities remained suspended in small towns as well.

In West Bengal, the impact of the bandh was evident in Burrabazar in Kolkata, Asia's biggest wholesale market and other important markets. Response was mixed in the districts. Partial response to the bandh was observed in Malda, Dinajpur, Krishnagar, Siliguri and Nadia.

In Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, protestors squatted on rail tracks and stopped the Kanpur-Pratapgarh passenger train. The wholesale and retail markets remained closed with trade organisations taking out processions in the market areas throughout the city.

In Rajasthan, most of the traders participated in the strike, PTI reported from Jaipur. Trader association spokesperson Arun Agrawal said traders in Jaipur, Udaipur, Alwar, Sikar, Jodhpur, Kota and other districts participated.

In Delhi, traders in several areas downed shutters and also blocked some of the arterial roads braving a steady drizzle.