NEW DELHI: All hopes of the government of getting the goods & services tax ( GST ) Bill passed in the remaining three days of the ongoing winter session of Parliament were dashed on Friday when the Opposition stood its ground — at an all-party meeting of the Rajya Sabha — of not supporting the Bill though a consensus was worked out to let the House function and allow clearance of other important Bills.At the meeting convened by Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari to break the deadlock in the Upper House, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reached out to the Opposition and sought support for the crucial GST Bill along with other pending legislation. He said Congress and other parties should cooperate on GST in the interest of the country.However, Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad maintained that Congress would not support the GST Bill in its present form. Congress is opposing the crucial Bill on three grounds.Congress wants the 18% tax cap to be made a part of the Constitution, removal of 1% inter-state tax and formation of a GST Council to redress grievances. With no consensus emerging on the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty Second) Amendment Bill — commonly known as the GST Bill — that requires passage with two-thirds of those present and voting in each House, the deadline of April 2016 for its implementation will be missed.The government had indicated earlier this week that it will try to get the GST Bill passed in the second half of the forthcoming Budget session. There is some optimism in the corridors of power that a consensus on the Bill would be worked out by then.Moreover, by then, the composition of the Rajya Sabha would have changed to some extent — though the National Democratic Alliance would still be in a minority — as 12 new people would become members of the House under the nominated category.Asked about discussions on the GST Bill in Friday’s meeting, Janata Dal (United) member KC Tyagi said, “GST Bill is like a live wire at this moment in time… But our intention in the meeting was to ensure that BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) and Congress do not decide everything among themselves and smaller parties also have a say in the conduct of business of the House.”He said all parties agreed that the House should be in order and a decision on six important Bills, other than the Goods and Services Tax Bill, is taken in the remaining three days.At the all-party meeting, there was an agreement that the Rajya Sabha would function normally and the Opposition would cooperate in the passage of six pending Bills. These are: Appropriations Bill, 2015; The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill, 2015; Anti-Hijacking Bill, 2014; Atomic Energy (Amendment) Bill; Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill; and The Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Bill, 2015.The Opposition also prevailed over the government on sending two Bills, namely, The Whistleblowers Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2015, and The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, 2015, to select committees of the Rajya Sabha.Shiromani Akali Dal member Naresh Gujral asked at the meeting if the outcome of the December 19 hearing in the National Herald case — where Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Vice-President Rahul Gandhi have been summoned by a Delhi court — would affect their promise of allowing the Rajya Sabha to function normally on Monday.Ghulam Nabi Azad assured all parties that Congress will not make it an issue and said his party’s disruptions in the Upper House in this session were not over the National Herald case.He demanded that the debate on growing intolerance in the country — which has already taken place in the Lok Sabha and was to be taken up in the Rajya Sabha — should be listed in next week’s business. The Opposition also sought discussions on the issues of price rise, impact of flood and drought on agriculture, and substantive motions against governors.