NEW DELHI: The GST Council decided on rate reductions through "explicit consensus". But it came after some political wrangling that surprisingly saw some of the opposition-ruled states seeking to block a reduction in the number of items in the 28% slab.When the GST Council meeting started discussing rates, Kerala finance minister Thomas Isaac is learnt to have pointed to the revenue position under the new indirect tax regime saying that it is below target and does not leave room for slashing rates at this juncture.But while this was in line with the Marxist minister's preference for higher taxation, what came as a bigger surprise was the position taken by Congress-ruled Karnataka and Puducherry which, according to sources, also argued against reduction in levies on items in the 28% bracket to 18% that will lower the burden on consumers. AAP's Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia wa among those opposing a rate reduction.The stance behind closed doors was completely at divergence with Congress's public pledge to lower the indirect tax rate if the party comes to power. West Bengal , another state that has been critical of GST despite being party to all the decisions, suggested that it would go with the views of the other three states.However, Manpreet Singh Badal, finance minister of Congress-run Punjab, did not enthusiastically back the "no-cut" stance. The three newly-elected Congress CMs- Kamal Nath (Madhya Pradesh), Ashok Gehlot Rajasthan ) and Bhupesh Bahel (Chattisgarh) - gave the crucial meeting a miss, with MP opting against even sending a senior officer.At the meeting, Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Modi sought to allay the fears of revenue loss for states by citing the instance of VAT. Contrary to fears, the introduction of value-added tax, which was introduced over a decade ago, did not lead to a loss of income for the Centre because of a massive improvement in collections.But it was the aggressive stance of Assam's finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma that took the wind out of the argument. Sarma demanded that the minutes of the meeting should record in exact detail the statements made by each state government representative so that their position was on record. This prompted finance minister Arun Jaitley suggesting that the decision be based on the recommendations of the fitment committee-a body which advises the Council on rates.