All political parties were party to GST decision, they cannot backtrack now: FM Arun Jaitley

Hours after Congress decided to stay away from the GST launch programme, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reminded that all the political parties were involved in the GST decision and it was passed unanimously.

Goods and Services Tax is set to be launched tomorrow.

"All state governments and all political parties were party to GST reforms. Now they cannot alienate themselves from it," Jaitley told reporters.


"I hope those who have distanced themselves will come on board," the FM added. "We will move forward with these reforms. They should remember that governments of all the state and union territories were party to this decision."

Congress today decided to stay away from the special midnight June 30 meeting convened by the government on GST implementation. The decision came after Congress President Sonia Gandhi met former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh along with other leaders today.

Besides Congress, Left, TMC and DMK have decided to stay away from the GST event.

Meanwhile, speaking to media, Venkaih Naidu said that the Opposition has no issues and the decision is a political one.

"We do not know what is the reason...are they against GST? No. Have we brought GST unilaterally? No. Was GST BJP's own decision? No," he said.