Twelve opposition parties gave notice for a no-confidence motion against Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, accusing him of violating the parliamentary procedures in trying to pass the farm sector Bills in haste, circumventing all demands for proper voting.
Mr. Harivansh was re-elected for the second time to the post only six days back.
The no-confidence resolution has been signed by MPs from the Congress, Trinamool Congress, DMK, RJD, TRS, NCP, AAP, CPI, CPI (M), JD (S), IUML and Kerala Congress (Mani).
“When the agitated members, on being denied the right for a division on this crucial bill protested strongly pointing out how gravely the bill is against the farmer’s interest, the Deputy Chairperson packed the house with security personnel deliberately designed to overawe and outnumber the members of the opposition,” the resolution reads.
The Opposition parties condemned the Deputy Chairman for cutting short the speech by former Prime Minister Deve Gowda.
The Opposition also accused Mr. Harivansh of acting like a rubber stamp of the government. “Deputy Chairman of RS has been a very close personal friend of mine for long. Till July 2017 he was a bitter critic of the PM, until his party abandoned the grand alliance in Bihar. Since then he has become an unthinking rubber stamp in the important position he occupies. Very sad,” Congress Chief Whip Jairam Ramesh tweeted.
Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel said Rajya Sabha witnessed the murder of democracy in the way the two Agriculture Bills were passed.
DMK’s Tiruchi Siva said his repeated calls for division were completely ignored. “He had his head down looking at his papers. And no matter how many times I called out, he never looked. This is unacceptable,” Mr. Siva said.
Sources said Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu would be taking action against the Opposition MPs for unruly behaviour. However, Opposition members are unruffled.
“Yes. An Opposition MP broke a microphone in the Rajya Sabha. Today, BJP tried to break the back of yet another great institution of our democracy #Parliament. Basic rights of MPs guaranteed by Constitution snatched. No vote allowed in RS on #farmersbill,” Mr. Derek O’ Brien of the Trinamool Congress tweeted.
AAP MP Sanjay Singh who stood up on the table in front of the Secretary General said, “Yes, I stood up on the table, I am owning it up, because what happened today in Rajya Sabha was far worse. All rules were ignored and the farmers have been thrown at the mercy of the big corporations by bending all possible rules.”