Stand off in Parliament not linked to GST bill : Ashwani Kumar, Congress

NEW DELHI: Congress Rajya Sabha member and spokesperson Ashwani Kumar has said that the ongoing stand off in Parliament, "is not linked to the GST bill". Maintaining that the Congress "is the initiator of the GST bill", Kumar said his party had already given its suggestions on the bill and it was for the government to respond to those suggestions constructively.

"The stand-off in Parliament is not linked to the GST bill. It is our party which is the initiator of the GST bill. The Congress has already conveyed to the government some of our reservations with the current GST bill and our suggestions to modify it. Now it is up to the government to come out with constructive responses to our suggestions," Kumar said while strongly disputing the charge of the government and the BJP that the Congress was disrupting Parliament proceedings with the aim of blocking the GST bill.