Star-studded GST launch: Here is full guest list for Midnight bash at Parliament

GST rollout: After years of inputs and months of speculation, the Goods and Services Tax or GST rollout will finally take place today during a midnight session in Parliament’s Central Hall. The hall itself is of historic significance as the last time it hosted a midnight event, it was in 1997 on the golden jubilee of the Independence. However, unlike the last time, it will be a gala event on June 30 which will be attended by a number of high-profile guests. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will, of course, be the star speaker of the night and will grace the dais along with President Pranab Mukherjee.

Here’s the full guest list of GST rollout:

 

• Apart from PM Modi and the President, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and Vice President Hamid Ansari will also be on the dais.

• Former Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and HD Deva Gowda were also given invitations but the former has declined it and will not attend the event.

• Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar will be among the attendees, which also includes BJP President Amit Shah and former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha.

• Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan will also be present at the event along with business tycoon Ratan Tata.

• The government has also invited leaders of some regional parties. This includes former Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal and National Conference leader Abdul Rahim.

• Former GST Council Chairman Sushil Kumar Modi will also be present at the event along with former finance ministers of West Bengal and Kerala Asim Dasgupta and K K Mani too have been invited.

• The guest list also features the names of RBI Governor Urjit Patel and his predecessors Bimal Jalan, Y V Reddy and D Subbaroa too figure in the list. Surprisingly, former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan is not on the list.

• CAG Shashi Kant Sharma and his predecessors Vinod Rai and TN Chaturvedi, CVC KV Chowdary, three Election Commissioners including CEC Nasim Zaidi, Niti Aayog vice chairman Arvind Panagariya, Metro man E Sreedharan, editor S Gurumurthy, agriculture scientist M S Swaminathan, UPSC Chairman David R Syiemlieh, CBEC chairman Vanaja N Sarna and CBDT Chairman Sushil Chandra have also been invited.

• As far law department is considered, senior lawyers Soli Sorabjee, KK Venugopal and Harish Salve will attend the event.

• From the industry chambers, Pankaj Patel of Ficci, Shobana Kamineni of CII and Sunil Kanoria of Assocham too are on the list of invitees.

Source: Financial Express