At a recent meeting with bankers at his residence, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi was asked about the future of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill? It was expected.
In almost all his meetings in the past few months with businessmen or industry groups, Gandhi had been addressing the issue of GST bill and his party’s stand on it.
“It is evident from the number of people who ask questions on GST bill to Rahul that there is a pressure from industry groups that the bill should be passed,” said a key aide of Gandhi.
In the last six months, Gandhi has met various industry groups as a part of his outreach.
He has been asked Congress’ economic outlook, especially as the party has been slow in supporting the NDA government’s reforms agenda that were conceived during the UPA era. Gandhi, sources said, maintains that he supports economic reforms but adds that growth needs to have a human face.
One such representative who met Gandhi, told HT, “In our first interaction we discussed the GST issue for almost 20 minutes. But the matter came up for barely five minutes in our last meeting.”
“We are not opposed to the concept of the GST...We only want some amendments. If the government takes us...on board, the GST bill can be passed in two minutes,” said Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad.