Hope government has registered our concern on GST: Congress

 Congress on Friday struck a cautious note after the first ever discussions with the government to thrash out a solution on the GST bill which the Centre is keen to pass in the current session of Parliament.

"It has been a constructive engagement and a work in progress. It is not a question of going back or going forward. The three demands of Congress were neither political nor partisan," Deputy Leader of Congress in Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma told reporters.

His remarks came after former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party chief Sonia Gandhi held a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the GST issue and other legislative business pending in Parliament. "Hope the government has registered our concern and the merit of what we are saying," Sharma said.

He said the demands of the party were well considered based on merit and the Congress believes that the GST has to be a driver of Indian economy. "It has to be effective... We want it to create a genuine common market, bring down the transaction burden on the industry," he added.

The Congress will now have its internal discussions on what the government conveyed its position on GST as well as the demands put forth by the Congress. "The Congress party believes when you have committed such a major constitutional amendment which deals with direct taxation and also the progress tax reform, it must not be rushed through and it should benefit our people and industry," Sharma said.