2 key farm Bills get Parl nod amid Oppn ruckus in RS
Book flung at Chair, papers torn by protesting members; Rahul says Modi govt making farmers shed ‘tears of blood’
NEW DELHI: Two key farm Bills, dubbed as the biggest reform in agriculture by the government, were on Sunday passed by Rajya Sabha with voice vote amid unprecedented unruly scenes by protesting opposition members who were demanding that the proposed legislation be referred to a House panel for greater scrutiny.
The Farmer’s Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 have already been passed by Lok Sabha and will now go to the President for his assent before they are notified as laws.
The Congress and other opposition parties slammed the Bills as “death warrants” of farmers, and called it a “black day for democracy”. After a heated debate, Rajya Sabha passed the two Bills amid a bedlam as some opposition members, ignoring the COVID-19 protocol, charged towards the podium of Deputy Chairman Harivansh, flung the rule book at him and tore official papers. They yanked his microphone and heckled him over their demand for a division of vote on their motion to refer the legislation to a select committee. Twelve Opposition parties later also gave a notice for a no-confidence motion against the Deputy Chairman over the manner in which two farm Bills were passed in the Upper House.
Meanwhile, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said, “I want to assure farmers that minimum support price and APMC will continue. These will never be removed at any cost,” he said. Trouble started in Rajya Sabha when the sitting of the House was extended beyond the scheduled time. Opposition members, who felt such a move should be resorted to only by consensus, rushed into the Well, shouting slogans against the government and accusing it of being anti-farmer. This forced Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar to cut short his reply and Harivansh took up the approval of the Bills.
The Narendra Modi government is “making farmers shed tears of blood”, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi tweeted after the Bills were cleared by the Rajya Sabha amid unprecedented chaos and uproar. In a tweet as dramatic as events in the Upper House, Gandhi also said the government had issued “death warrants” against farmers by passing these Bills.
CHANDIGARH: Farmers on Sunday blocked roads in Haryana and burnt effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in neighbouring Punjab, protesting against the farm bills passed in Parliament.
Farmers occupied portions of roads and highways at several places in Haryana between 12 and 3 pm, following a call given by the state unit of the Bhartiya Kisan Union against the agri-marketing bills, two of which were passed in Rajya Sabha on Sunday.
After 3 pm, reports said the road blockades were lifted, ending the day’s protests in which BKU was also supported by several other farmer organisations. In Ambala, Haryana Police used water cannons at the state’s border to stop Punjab Youth Congress workers from entering the district and travelling ahead to Delhi as part of their “tractor rally.”
Punjab protesters set fire to one of their own tractors when they were forced to end their rally at the Haryana border, police said.
Farmers were joined by ‘arhitiyas’ —or the commission agents at ‘mandis’ —during their protests at many places in Haryana.
There was heavy police deployment across the state, particularly where the bigger gatherings were expected.
Police diverted traffic to alternative routes. Executive magistrates were stationed along with police at many protest venues.
The situation at the Haryana-Punjab border was tense for a while as Youth Congress activists were bent upon moving on the national highway towards Delhi. But the spot was heavily barricaded by police, who also used water cannons to disperse the protesters. Farmers at several places in Punjab burnt effigies and copies of the farm bills, claiming that the new laws will destroy their livelihood.