Opposition leaders stage walk-out from Rajya Sabha (ANI)Parliament Monsoon Session Live Updates: Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad on Tuesday said the opposition will boycott the proceedings of the House till the suspension of eight members is revoked. Speaking after the Zero Hour, Azad also demanded that the government brings a bill that should ensure private players don’t procure food grains below the minimum support price (MSP) fixed by the government. He also asked the government that the MSP should be fixed from time to time as the C2 Swaminathan formula. The Congress was the first to walkout from the House along with members of the AAP, TMC and Left parties. Some parties like the NCP, SP, Shiv Sena and RJD also staged a walkout later.
Eight opposition MPs staged an overnight protest next to the Gandhi statue in Parliament premises over their suspension due to “unruly behaviour”. In an attempt to cut the ice, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh Singh brought tea for the MPs. The RS deputy chairman, the leaders said, came in bright and early with a posse of news cameras and was told by a senior MP to visit them without the cameras and sit with them. “Another senior MP also told him that while bringing tea was a nice gesture, he was still in the wrong in what he did. He was told that he was the one who broke the rules,” a protesting MP told PTI.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded Harivansh Singh for bringing tea for the eight suspended MPs. “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,” Modi tweeted, adding that Harivansh’s gesture will make “every democracy lover proud.”
TMC MP Derek O'Brien attempts to tear the rule book as ruckus erupts in the Rajya Sabha over agriculture related bills, during the ongoing Monsoon Session, at Parliament House in New Delhi, Sunday. (Photo: Screengrab @ RSTV via PTI)
"We wanted not just the suspension to be revoked but at the same time we wanted the farm bills to be taken back & proper voting to happen. But nothing of that sort was going to happen as the Chairman wasn't ready to listen to anyone. So all the opposition parties boycotted the rest of the session. They appealed to all the people who were sitting at the dharna to finish it & join them in boycotting the rest of the session. That is how we have ended this dharna," said Congress Rajya Sabha MP Syed Nasir Hussain.
PM Modi shares RS deputy chairman Harivansh's letter to President Ram Nath Kovind. Modi says he has gone through the entire letter, which is inspirational and urges people to give it a read as well. Modi says every word of the letter strengthens belief in the democratic values of the country.
Deputy chairman calls on Binoy Viswam, MV Shreyams Kumar, KC Venugopal and Digvijaya Singh to move their resolution against the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020. The members are not present.
Rajya Sabha has taken up the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill 2020 for passage
Rajya Sabha passes the Indian Institutes of Information Technology Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020. The Bill amends Indian Institutes of Information Technology Act, 2014 and the Indian Institutes of Information Technology (Public-Private Partnership) Act, 2017. The Bill seeks to declare five Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) set up under the Public-Private Partnership model in Surat, Bhopal, Bhagalpur, Agartala, and Raichur as institutions of national importance.
Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu made a fresh appeal to members of all opposition parties to rethink their decision of boycotting the House proceedings and participate in the discussions of the House. "I appeal to all members to rethink their decision of boycott and participate in the discussion," Naidu said in the House.
Rajya Sabha deputy chairman Harivansh writes to President Ram Nath Kovind against the unruly behaviour with him in the House by opposition MPs during the passing of agriculture Bills on 20th September. Expressing his deep anguish and pain at opposition members' "humiliating" conduct towards him, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson Harivansh on Tuesday announced a 24-hour long fast, hoping that this may inspire a feeling of "self-purification" in them. The sight of "disrobing of democracy" jolted his mind and heart and he could not sleep for the whole night, the Bihar MP wrote in the letter underscoring his agony and pain at the development.
"I am a senior Member of Parliament, I have apologised for what happened in the House, but I didn't get any response. I found this very insulting. My party has decided to boycott the entire session," Samajwadi Party Rajya Sabha MP Ram Gopal Yadav told news agency ANI
A day after Rajya Sabha passed two farm Bills overruling vociferous protests by the Opposition, leaders of 18 parties on Monday approached President Ram Nath Kovind and urged him not to give his assent to the Bills, arguing that they were passed in a “tyrannical manner unknown to our Constitution”. They sought his “active and vocal” intervention in the matter and told him that there was “absolute and total murder of democracy” in Parliament on Sunday. “We pray that you exert all powers, constitutional and moral, as the head of our Republic, to ensure that such black law does not become Law and that such pernicious and despicable events do not sully the fair name of proud Indian democracy,” the parties said in a memorandum to the President.
Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank resumes his speech on the Indian Institutes of Information Technology Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020.
Leader of the House Thaawarchand Gehlot says the Chair's decision was appropriate.
Chairman Venkaiah Naidu referred to Harivansh's letter informing him about his one-day fast. "The images appearing on TV is unbecoming of the House of the elders," he adds
The Indian Institutes of Information Technology Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020, The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020, The Rashtriya Raksha University Bill, 2020, The Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Bill, 2020 are among the bills listed for business in the Rajya Sabha Tuesday. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan will also make statements.
In Lok Sabha, meanwhile, The Occupational Safety, Health And Working Conditions Code, 2020, The Industrial Relations Code, 2020, The Code On Social Security, 2020 and The Factoring Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2020 are among the bills that will be discussed.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said, "Is it not painful what happened in the Upper House? Is it a way to behave? If they express their regret, the government is not bent upon to run the business without them. We are ready to hold a discussion as we're on a strong footing." JDU MP Ram Chandra Prasad Singh says the suspended MPs shouldn't be forgiven because the intention behind their actions was wrong.
Former PM HD Deve Gowda tells the Chairman, government and Opposition should sit together to help you run the House. "We have not come here for tamasha," he says. "The government should come to an understanding. Both the Opposition and the Government should sit together to help run the House. Democracy should work with cooperation," he added
Vice-president M Venkaiah Naidu quoted The Indian Express report in which the eight suspended MPs defended their actions. "Don't try to put the blame on the chair. The Deputy Chairman has tried to handle the situation well, but some people think 'my way or the highway'." Read the interview of eight MPs
Congress MP Ghulam Nabi Azad asked for a separate Bill to ensure that private players don't buy below MSP and that MSP is decided by the Swaminathan formula. "Till our demands which include revocation of suspension of the 8 MPs and Govt to bring another bill under which no private player can purchase below MSP are not met, the Opposition will boycott the session," he said.
Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav said he is "saddened" by what happened in the House. "When tempers run high, people lose control. I would request the Chair to revoke the suspension of the MPs," he said, apologising on behalf of the eight MPs.
Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad addresses the House. "No one is happy with the incidents that have taken place in this House...The public wants that their leaders should be heard. No one can put across their views in just 2-3 mins. There will be 90% de-escalation if MPs not constrained by time to speakWhat happened the day before yesterday in the House is the last straw on the camel's back. Attempts are being made to pass every bill. MPs are not being given time to talk. Time constraint has become the biggest conflict in the House."
The suspended parliamentarians spent the night in the lawns near Mahatma Gandhi's statue. AAP's Sanjay Singh posted a picture on Twitter from the protest site in the morning and said that the "whole night was spent under the open sky in front of Bapu's statue". The RS deputy chairman, the leaders said, came in bright and early with a posse of news cameras and was told by a senior MP to visit them without the cameras and sit with them. "Another senior MP also told him that while bringing tea was a nice gesture, he was still in the wrong in what he did. He was told that he was the one who broke the rules," a protesting MP told PTI. The protesting MPs did not accept the tea and snacks offered by the deputy chairman.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi backed Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh. "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," he tweeted.