Farmers Movement Archive

Govt pushes flurry of bills as Oppn boycotts

At least seven Opposition parties boycotted proceedings in both Houses, Rajya Sabha deputy chairman Harivansh and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar said they would go on a fast, and the government hurriedly pushed through key bills on an action-packed Tuesday — with the possibility of the monsoon session being cut short and ending on Wednesday. The eight members of Parliament (MPs) suspended for the commotion during the controversial passage of farm reform bills in the Rajya Sabha, spent Monday night protesting outside Parliament, rebuffed a conciliatory gesture by Harivansh (who went to meet them with tea in the morning), but ended their vigil after Opposition parties decided to boycott the Lok Sabha for the remainder of the session. The Rajya Sabha, where the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) does not have a majority, passed at least seven bills in just three-and-a-half hours in the absence of Opposition voices, making Tuesday’s session one of the most productive in its history. The Lok Sabha, where the NDA has a clear majority, took up three important labour reform bills, and cleared them, with the Congress and some other opposition parties boycotting the day’s proceedings to protest the happenings in the Upper House.  The Lok Sabha will meet around 6pm on Wednesday and is likely to cut short the session, people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity. The Rajya Sabha’s business advisory committee met without the Opposition’s participation on Tuesday evening. The Upper House, which will convene at 9am, is set to adjourn sine die after taking up remaining bills on Wednesday, the people added. The monsoon session of Parliament, which began on September 14, was supposed to end on October 1. HT reported on Sunday that the session may end as early as on September 23 after many parties agreed to cut it short amid a rising number of Covid-19 cases linked to the Parliament House complex; 32 Parliamentarians, including two ministers, and more than 100 officials have tested positive for Covid-19 in a testing drive in Parliament ever since the session began. The Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Trinamool Congress, CPI (M), Aam Aadmi Party, Telangana Rashtra Samithi, and Samajwadi Party all boycotted the session citing the suspension of the MPs, and the way the farm bills were pushed through, without a division or voting. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) too walked out of the two Houses with its members saying they were not part of the Opposition but have done so on their own, alleging that the government was only trying to “bluff” the farmers. “We will not end our boycott till the government brings another bill making it illegal for private players to buy food grains from farmers below the MSP, all state agencies comply by the MSP and the procurement price is fixed as per the Swaminathan panel’s recommendations,” Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad told reporters outside the Parliament building. He also said the revocation of suspension of the Opposition members was not a demand but a request. Azad said the House should run in coordination between the government and the Opposition. “But there should not be coordination between chair and government,” he said, referring to Rajya Sabha deputy chairperson Harivansh pushing through the two contentious farm bills on Sunday while allegedly ignoring Opposition voices. “President Ram Nath Kovind should not give assent to the bills as proper procedure was not followed in their passage in the Rajya Sabha,” he added. In its reply, the government said it was not keeping the suspended MPs away from the House but they should express regret over their behaviour. “Let them apologise, we will consider withdrawing the suspension,” Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters. On Monday, Trinamool Congress floor leader Derek O’Brien and his colleague Dola Sen; Aam Aadmi Party’s Sanjay Singh; Congress’s Rajeev Satav, Syed Nasir Hussain and Ripun Borah; and KK Ragesh and Elamaram Kareem of the CPI(M) were suspended for seven days each for “disorderly conduct”. Vice-president and Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Monday rejected a notice for a no-confidence motion against Harivansh as it was not in proper format and did not give a 14-day notice period. Among the seven bills passed by the Upper House were The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020, The Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2020 and The Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Bill, 2020. The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, approved by the Lower House on September 15, seeks to remove cereals, pulses, oilseeds, edible oils, onion and potatoes from the list of essential commodities, replacing an ordinance promulgated in June. It is the third bill in the government’s farm liberalisation plan. The Lok Sabha, too, witnessed uproarious scenes with the Opposition demanding that the government should roll back the farms bills and withdraw the suspension of the eight Rajya Sabha members. “Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha are like twin brothers...if one is in pain, the other has to be concerned. Our issue is related to the farm bills; we want them be taken back,” Adhir Ranjan Choudhary, the Congress’s leader of the House, said. Parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi said it is unfortunate that the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha were discussed in the Lok Sabha. “Whatever happens in one House, it has never been discussed in another House. It is unfortunate that this thing is being discussed now.” Harivansh, meanwhile, wrote a letter — addressed to the President and Vice-President — invoking his humble origins in Bihar and went on a day-long fast on Tuesday to protest “humiliating” conduct towards him by some MPs.“In the name of democracy, members of the House indulged in violent behaviour. There was an effort to intimidate the person in the chair. All norms of the Upper House were disregarded. The rule book was torn and thrown over me...,” he wrote.Congress member Satav, one of those suspended members, said: “We are equally pained and hurt over the way the deputy chairman conducted the proceedings in the House on Sunday. Seeking a division or amendments are our Parliamentary rights that were denied to us by him...”NCP chief Pawar, too, said he was observing a day-long fast to protest the suspension of the eight members of the Upper House. Addressing a press conference in Mumbai, Pawar, a Rajya Sabha member, also bemoaned the conduct of Harivansh and the government’s decision of “bulldozing” the Opposition in the House.

Hindustan Times

23-09-2020

India