J&K assembly fails to pass GST bill amid ruckus

The Jammu and Kashmir assembly on Saturday failed to pass the GST bill in a special one day session as the opposition MLAs accused the Mehbooba Mufti-led government of "blinding boys and girls by using pellet guns".

As soon as the assembly started to take up obituary references, Congress MLAs stood up on their seats demanding that the names of those killed in the unrest be included in the obituary references of the house.

The Congress MLAs said the PDP-BJP government was blinding boys and girls by using pellet guns and later distributing scooties and laptops among them.

As speaker Kulwinder Gupta tried to restore order in the house, National Conference MLA Devender Rana stood up and accused the speaker of destroying the credibility of the house by acting at the behest of New Delhi.

The NC and the Congress also protested outside the assembly against "innocent killings" in the Valley.

The protesting legislators carried placards saying "stop innocent killings", "stop state terrorism".

The government had convened the session to discuss the Goods and Services Tax (GST) implementation which needs a constitutional amendment by the legislature so that the new tax regime is adopted in the state.

Meanwhile, groups of traders, manufacturers and other businessmen staged a sit-in in the city's Lal Chowk area against the move.

Protesting traders, manufacturers and other businessmen later started a march towards the assembly to register their protest against the implementation of GST in the state.

--IANS

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