Sonia meets Modi for tea

Jaitley said that the leaders also discussed the smooth functioning of Parliament in the Winter Session during the meeting.

Modi, 65, has raised India’s global profile with a series of trips overseas but suffered his biggest setback as prime minister when his nationalist party crashed to defeat in a big state election this month.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu had said Jaitley would speak to the Congress and other parties to find a breakthrough.

Analysts cautioned, however, that while the outlines of a compromise on GST were taking shape, there was no guarantee that a bargain would be struck during the meeting at Modi’s official residence.

Talking about the impasse over the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill, he added that the Congress was clear on its position and had three differences with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Congress has articulated three amendments to the proposed bill namely mention of capping of 18 percent tax in the text of the bill, removing the one percent tax on manufacturing states and formation of a commission for dispute redressal.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi had told Modi on Friday that her party would hold discussions on the GST before meeting government representatives to find a common ground.

Mr Jaitley said the Congress leadership has put forward three issues related to the GST bill, while the government has also put forward its arguments.

The Narendra Modi government has set April 2016 as the deadline for the implementation of GST. This additional tax will be shall be assigned to the states for a period of up to two years, or as recommended by the GST panel.

However, Modi didn’t fail to score a brownie point over his arch rival Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi as he did not invite him for the tea party.

Sources said the former prime minister was well aware of the Bill’s nitty-gritty as well as the limitation of the government in accepting all of Congress’ demands.

Sharma, who is also the Deputy Leader of Congress in Rajya Sabha, said the demands of the party were well considered and based on merit and the Congress believes that the GST has to be a driver of Indian economy.

“We are reaching out to them, we are willing to discuss with them because some of these suggestions may not necessarily be in the larger interest of the GST structure”, he said here while adressing the annual general session of industry chamber Assocham.

Another Congress leader Pramod Tiwari asserted that the opposition would give its nod to the GST Bill only if it is in the benefit of the people.

A senior Union minister maintained that the government wants to “take the Congress along” on this issue, as the United Progressive Alliance is the original author of the legislation.