<div>This was only expected. As soon as Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley introduced the GST bill -- Constitution (122nd amendment) Bill, 2014 – in the Rajya Sabha around 2.15 pm on Tuesday (Aug 11), Congress members trooped into the Well of the House and started raising slogans against transacting any business.</div><div> </div><div>Congress members like Satyavrat Chaturvedi and B K Hariprasad were seen leading the members.</div><div> </div><div>Jaitley’s exhortation – that the Congress action would slow down the economy of the country – was lost in the din of Congress sloganeering.</div><div> </div><div>That the Congress would never allow the introduction and passing of the bill has been evident from the very beginning of the Monsoon Session. On Tuesday, Congress deputy leader in the House said, Anand Sharma: “We are not against the GST bill per se; we are against the manner in which it is being introduced”.<br><br>Party chief whip in the Rajya Sabha Satyavrat Chaturvedi told <em>Businessworld</em>, "this GST Bill was never discussed in the business advisory committee. So how can we have a debate on the issue in the house? Before anything else, the government must take the main opposition into confidence."<br><br>Chaturvedi added there was no question whatsoever of the Congress allowing the Bill's passage in th enext three days.</div><div> </div><div>With only three days of the Monsoon Session left, and with the Congress bent on disrupting the proceedings, there are very little chances that the GST Bill would be passed this week. It being a Constitutional amendment bill, there has to be order in the House while the bill is debated.</div><div> </div><div>A proposal being discussed in the government is to convene a two-day or three-day session one month down the line, as part of the ongoing monsoon session, and get the GST Bill passed. Else it will miss its April 1 2016 rollout date. It, however, remains to be seen if the Congress cools down the tempers by then. <br> </div><div>Congress members, meanwhile, kept on protesting and shouting slogans in the Lower House on Tuesday as well.</div><div> </div><div>Earlier in the day, at the BJP Parliamentary Party meeting, PM Modi lashed out at those disrupting the proceedings of Parliament. He had a word of gratitude for Samajawadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, too, who had said on Monday that he wanted Parliament to function, and that he would not support the Congress if it wound continue to disrupt the parliamentary proceedings.</div>
