Farmers Movement Archive

‘Bihari pride’ in focus amid uproar in House

The uproar in Parliament over the controversial passage of farm bills resonated in poll-bound Bihar with senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleging that the Opposition’s protests against Rajya Sabha deputy chairman Harivansh hurt ‘Bihari pride’. Harivansh, a member of the Janata Dal (United) who was a journalist and writer, hails from Bihar and the government has sought to corner the Opposition for the “heckling”, “abuse” and “disrespect” shown to the senior Bihar politician. The controversy began on Sunday when the government rushed through two contentious farm bills amid fierce protests from the Opposition. Senior Opposition leaders charged towards Harivansh, jumped onto tables; and alleged that their demand for a division of votes was denied. The next day, eight Opposition members were suspended, triggering even more unrest and protests by the Opposition. Hours later, Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad who represents the Patna Sahib Constituency in the Lok Sabha, linked the issue to Bihari pride. “An eminent Indian who hails from Bihar was humiliated; the people of Bihar will give a response. Harivansh ji remained dignified… We will not make it a political issue but people are hurt,” the minister said. He also trained his guns at the Opposition and said, “The way Congress and RJD [Rashtriya Janata Dal] were silent and even encouraged the protesting MPs in the Rajya Sabha, this will be told to the people of the state. Both Congress and RJD will have to answer.” The Congress and the RJD are part of the Opposition alliance in the Bihar assembly elections, scheduled for later this year. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi put out two tweets to appreciate the deputy chairperson’s gesture of serving tea to the suspended MPs who spent the night in protest inside the Parliament complex. “To personally serve tea to those who attacked and insulted him a few days ago as well as those sitting on Dharna shows that Shri Harivansh Ji has been blessed with a humble mind and a big heart. It shows his greatness. I join the people of India in congratulating Harivansh Ji,” the PM said. In a second tweet, he referred to Harivansh’s Bihari roots. “For centuries, the great land of Bihar has been teaching us the values of democracy. In line with that wonderful ethos, MP from Bihar and Rajya Sabha deputy chairperson Shri Harivansh Ji’s inspiring and statesman like conduct this morning will make every democracy lover proud,” the PM said. This is the second time in this session that the PM has invoked the deputy chairperson’s connection with Bihar. On September 14, when Harivansh was re-elected as deputy Rajya Sabha chair for the second term, the PM mentioned how he belonged to “the land of democracy.” “When anyone who is a seeker of democracy, from the land of democracy, Bihar, from JP’s (Jayprakash Narayan) and Karpuri Thakur’s land, from Bapu’s (Mahatma Gandhi) Champaran, steps forward to take responsibility, this is what happens…what Harivansh has accomplished,” the PM said while complimenting his conduct of the House. Harivansh wrote a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind and vice-president Venkaiah Naidu, invoking his humble origins in Bihar.Harivansh noted that he was born in the same village at Saran in Bihar as anti-Emergency icon Jayaprakash Narayan and spoke about the influence of Mahatma Gandhi, Ram Manohar Lohia, Karpoori Thakur and Chandra Shekhar on him. “I am a man of village and built by literature, sensibilities and values,” he said.In Bihar, where the BJP is part of the ruling alliance with the JD(U), deputy chief minister Sushil Modi said the incident “hurt the pride of Bihar”. Congress’s Rajya Sabha MP, Jairam Ramesh, alleged that the BJP was politicising the issue. He tweeted, “The shadow of the forthcoming Bihar elections has fallen over Parliament now. It is all very well for Constitutional authorities to demand respect. They must, in fact, command respect by their non-partisan actions.”RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav agreed with him. “They (BJP) will keep talking of Bihar now, and the moment elections end they will forget Bihar. The PM still has not sent a central team to assess the flood situation here. As far as farm Bills are concerned, we’ll hold a protest against it,” he said. Shankar Dutt, a professor at Patna University, said the assembly polls is likely to be dominated by issues of health care, employment and education, and not the Rajya Sabha ruckus.

Hindustan Times

23-09-2020

India