The eight suspended MPs ended their sit-in at Mahatma Gandhi statue inside the Parliament premises after the opposition parties took a joint decision to boycott the proceedings of Rajya Sabha for the remainder of the monsoon session.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi had told Rajya Sabha that the suspension will be withdrawn if the eight MPs express regret. The opposition parties did not agree to this proposal.
“After many Opposition parties have boycotted the remainder of the Monsoon Session of Rajya Sabha, the dharna at Gandhi statue has ended. Now we will take our fight for the rights of the farmers to every town and village in the country,” Trinamool Congress MP Dola Sen said.
On Monday, TMC's Derek O’Brien and Dola Sen, CPI(M)'s Elamaram Kareem and K.K. Ragesh, Congress's Rajeev Satav, Syed Naseer Hussain and Ripun Bora, and AAP's Sanjay Singh were suspended by Rajya Sabha for their unruly behaviour in the house. The eight MPs had been on a sit-in protest from Monday 12:45 pm till Tuesday 10:30 am. The MPs spent the night in Parliament, sleeping on bedsheets on the lawn next the Gandhi statue.
Those who boycotted the session include Congress, TMC, DMK, RJD, Samajwadi Party, Shiv Sena, National Congress Party, Telangana Rashtra Samiti, AAP, CPI (M) and CPI.
Speaking outside the House, after walking out, Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said that though the Opposition’s reaction on Sunday, may not have been entirely justified, there was enough provocation.
He claimed Deputy Chairman Harivansh did not take a proper sense of the House on Sunday. “ There were 18 parties who were not in favour of extending the time of the house. The two bills was passed in din which is against the norm in Rajya Sabha and that too without considering any amendments that could improve the bill.
“We have three conditions, either the government bring in a new bill or introduce provisions in the existing one, to include a provision that buying or selling farm produce below the Minimum Support Price (MSP) is illegal. The MSP should be fixed as per the Swaminathan commission. And third that even the Food Corporation of India and other state food organisations are not allowed to buy the crops below the MSP,” Mr Azad said.
Congress Chief Whip in Rajya Sabha, Jairam Ramesh, listed out seven reasons for the opposition’s boycott, foremost being the manner in which “bills have been bulldozed by the government”.
Harivansh offers tea to protesting MPs
Earlier in the day, in an attempt to arrive at a truce Deputy Chairman Harivansh against whom the opposition had moved a no-confidence motion, came with tea and biscuits for the protesting MPs.
“Harivansh ji claimed that it is a personal visit, he came in his own car. Later, the PM tweeted praising him for bringing tea for us. It is very clear, that BJP and their ally JD (U) realise that they are getting alienated from the people because of the draconian law. This tea trip was aimed at Bihar assembly elections,” CPI (M) MP K K Ragesh said.
AAP MP Mr Singh said, we don't have anything personal against the Deputy Chairman and this is not the hour to strike personal relationship. "We told him too, that on Sunday, the rules and regulations were ignored to bulldoze the two legislation, voting was not done simply because they did not have the numbers," Mr Singh said.
Lunch and dinner was brought in my other opposition leaders who visited the protesting members. Lunch and snacks came in many installments, one lot of sandwiches and dhokla along with lassi was brought by Congress leader Digvijaya Singh. DMK's Tiruchi Siva brought idlis and chutney for the members in the evening. Mr. Digvijaya Singh brought in pillows and bedsheets for all the protesting MPs.