Arun Jaitley meets top Congress leaders to break GST ice

NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has gauged the mind of Congress leadership on the GST BILL when he met leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and spoke to deputy leader Anand Sharma a few days back, sources said.

The Congress side is learnt to have reiterated the party's demand to scrap the proposed one per cent inter-state tax, to cap the GST rate at 18 % and making independent dispute settlement mechanism within the GST council as conditions for party backing the Bill.

"The government side is expected to get back to us after its internal discussions", said a Congress source. The Congress floor leaders also held a meeting on Monday and may reach out to other Opposition parties to firm up common floor strategy during winter session.