Congress "strongly" believes in GST, government should address the issues: Rahul Gandhi

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Wednesday said the fate of the winter session would depend on the government accommodating the views of the Opposition parties on topics for debate and legislations, including the GST bill.

While maintaining that the Congress "strongly" believes in the GST bill, party vice president Rahul Gandhi listed, in Bangalore, three issues his party has with the proposed bill: the need to cap GST rate at 18 per cent, an independent dispute-resolution set-up within the GST council and the need to scrap 1 per cent inter-state tax.

"The government has to accept that Congress sits in Parliament, has a view and 20 per cent vote," he said.

"The Congress wants the GST bill to be both pro-industry/trade and pro-consumer. We want a cap on the GST rate so that it’s not raised later," said Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad. He said the government side had assured to discuss the GST bill with the Opposition.