Opp. joins ranks, boycotts RS till suspension of 8 MPs is revoked

■ Government adamant, says apologise first; ‘ dy chairman acted with utmost restraint’ ■ Various Opp. parties boycott Lok Sabha in solidarity with suspended RS members ■ After Opp. boycott, RS passes 7 Bills, including Essential Commodities ( Amendment)

A number of Opposition parties on Tuesday staged a walkout from the Rajya Sabha and decided to boycott proceedings of the House till the suspension of eight members is revoked, even as the government insisted on an apology from the “unruly” MPs.

Among the parties that boycotted the proceedings of the House included the Congress, which was among the first to walk out, followed by members of the CPI- M, CPI, TMC, NCP, SP, Shiv Sena, RJD, DMK, TRS and AAP.

Leader of Opposition in Rajya S a b h a , G h u l a m Nabi Azad, said they would boycott the proceedings till the suspension of members is revoked and also demanded that the government bring another Bill to ensure that no private player should buy food grains from farmers below the MSP fixed by the government.

Joining their colleagues in the Upper House, Opposition parties in the Lok Sabha also boycotted House proceedings later. Congress leader in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, said all Opposition parties are boycotting Parliament in solidarity with the Rajya Sabha members who were suspended on Monday. Along with Congress MPs, TMC, BSP and TRS members also walked out of the Lok Sabha.

Mr Chowdhury did not specify for how long the boycott would continue. For Lok Sabha, Monsoon Session likely to end on Wednesday.

With the Opposition deciding to boycott the Rajya Sabha, its eight suspended MPs on Tuesday ended their overnight sitin inside the Parliament House complex and said they would take their fight against the farm Bills to the street.

After Opposition parties boycotted proceedings, Rajya Sabha on Tuesday passed seven Bills, including the Essential Commodities ( Amendment) Bill, 2020, which is one of the three farm sector related Bills which Opposition parties and farmers’ organisations have been pro testing against, saying they are “anti- farmers” while the Modi government asserts that they are “revolutionary.”

“I demand that the government brings another Bill in the House which should ensure that no private player can buy food grains from farmers below the MSP. The government should also ensure that the MSP is fixed as per c2 formula under Swaminathan Committee and the should also ensure that all procurement done by central, state governments and FCI be not done below MSP. The colleagues who have been suspended for the rest of the session, their suspension be revoked. Till the government does these three things, we will boycott the session,” Mr

Ghulam Nabi Azad said in the House while walking out.

Mr Azad also said members should get more time to speak and time constraint has become a major issue of discontent among Opposition parties.

He said the sense of the House should not mean mere numbers, but by political parties as 18 political parties are on one side demanding more time. Maintaining that the voice of the Opposition and rights of members are not heard and Bills are not sent for scrutiny to the select or standing committees, Mr Azad said, “I think the day before yesterday was the last straw that broke the camel’s back.”

The Congress leader said the government now wants “one nation, one market” with which they have no problem. “The government earlier said ‘ one nation, one tax’ and then ‘ one nation, one ration card’, but for God’s sake, don’t go towards ‘ one nation, one party’.” of other

Leaders

Opposition parties in Rajya Sabha, including SP’s Ramgopal Yadav, TRS’ K. Keshava Rao, DMK’s T. Shiva and former Prime Minister H. D. Deve Gowda requested revocation of suspension of eight members.

“We will consider withdrawal of suspension only after suspended members apologise for their behaviour in Rajya Sabha,” the BJP’s Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters outside Parliament.

Replying to Mr Azad’s remarks on division of votes, as sought by Opposition MPs over two farm Bills on Sunday, Rajya Sabha chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu said records of House proceedings show that deputy chairman Harivansh asked 13 times to members who were in the well of the House to go back to their seats and he will allow division, but they did not go.

Mr Naidu asserted that the deputy chairman acted with utmost restraint and handled the situation in a very deft manner.