Indian government’s attempts to push through the GST Bill in Rajya Sabha were on Tuesday stalled by the Congress disrupting Rajya Sabha, inviting angry reaction from Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who targeted Sonia and Rahul Gandhi saying they were not able to digest election defeat.
When Jaitley got up to move the Bill, Congress members trooped into the well, shouting slogans against the government. Accusing the Congress party of creating obstacles in the path of growth and economy, he declared that government would try to get the bill passed with the help of parties supporting GST through “all correct measures politically and constitutionally”.
“The real purpose is that they want to stall the economic progress of the country. The issue relating to the external affairs minister is merely a pretext. The real reason is that they don’t want the Indian economy to grow and that is why session after session, they have been looking for one pretext or the other to make sure that the GST legislation which will give a boost to India’s GDP and economy, is not passed,” Jaitley said amidst the ruckus. “If the Congress party wants the economy of the country to slow down, when every other political party is in support of it, they must candidly say so. They don’t need any pretext in order to say this,” he added.
Amid stormy scenes and vociferous slogan shouting by Congress members, Deputy Chairman P J Kurien said, “This being a Constitution amendment bill, I cannot take up the bill in pandemonium”. He then adjourned the House for the day.
