Kharge meets Rahul amid thaw on GST bill

Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge met party vice president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday and is learnt to have discussed the Goods and Services Tax bill and other issues related to parliament.

The meeting came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with top Congress leaders on the GST bill.

Modi had met Congress president Sonia Gandhi and former prime minister Manmohan Singh over tea on Friday to break the logjam over the pending legislation. The bill is stuck in the Rajya Sabha where the government lacks majority.

Congress sources said the party will deliberate the issue internally against the backdrop of the discussions with the government and a second meeting could be held next week.

The party wants a cap on the GST rate at 18 percent, deletion of the provision which allows imposition of one percent tax by additional levy and an independent dispute resolution mechanism.

During the meeting with Modi on Thursday, Congress party leaders put forth their position on the bill.

Congress sources said that GST was not the only issue for the party in the winter session and it will raise in the Lok Sabha the issue of intolerance on Monday.