Farmers Movement Archive

We had the numbers, says Prasad, slams Opposition conduct

NEW DELHI: The government claimed on Monday that it had a majority in Rajya Sabha when the two farm bills were passed and accused opposition leaders of “irresponsible and shameful” conduct. “We had a clear majority in Rajya Sabha on farm bills," law and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, adding that 110 members supported the bills and a little over 70 opposed them. He was addressing a press conference with fellow ministers Pralhad Joshi and Piyush Goyal on the pandemonium in RS on Sunday and Monday. Opposition Rajya Sabha members did not leave the House despite being suspended on Monday which was an open violation of rules, Prasad said. On certain opposition members standing on the table in the House, he said people of Bihar were pained at the treatment given to Rajya Sabha deputy chairman Harivansh on Sunday. Citing Congress's election manifesto and statements by chief ministers of states governed by it, Prasad accused the opposition party of double standards on issues like contract farming and Agriculture Produce Marketing Committees. Joshi and Dharmendra Pradhan said the incidents in Rajya Sabha were akin to “goondaism” and an extension of the ongoing “tug of war” among Congress factions — “the Group-23 and the Group R (Rahul Gandhi)”. “When the chairman names a member, then that member has to leave the House. Never before has a member defied the order of the chair. Eight suspended MPs misbehaved, it was a type of 'goondaism'. They have proved that they have no trust in democracy," Joshi told reporters. Pradhan said the violent behaviour of opposition MPs with the deputy chairman was a fight of one-upmanship among the loyalists of Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. “The incident was an unceremonious way to impress one family,” Pradhan said. The minister said some of the architects of the G-23 in Congress, who are demanding change in the leadership, resorted to unparliamentary behaviour, which made it evident that for them, “democracy means pampering of a single family” and addressing their self-interest.

The Times of India

2020-09-22

India