Prime Minister Narendra Modi Meets his predecessor Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi at the PM's 7, RCR residence over tea Friday Nov 27,2015

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited his predecessor Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi to his home for discussions over tea this evening, in what was seen as an attempt to unlock the Goods and Services Tax or GST, the government's most ambitious tax reform.

This was the first face-to-face meeting between the prime minister and Sonia Gandhi since his BJP won a landslide victory in the national election last year, ending the Congress-led UPA's 10-year-rule.

"The PM discussed the GST bill with the Congress which conveyed its three objections over which there were further discussions. The Congress will discuss the government's response to their three objections within the party after which the two sides will further discuss," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said after the meeting. Mr Jaitley and union minister Venkaiah Naidu had also attended the meet.

"Our demands are non-political, we're only thinking in nation's interest and want GST which is meaningful," said Congress's Anand Sharma.

Speaking in Parliament just before the tea meeting, PM Modi had struck a conciliatory note and said: "Consensus is more important than majority rule."