Trinamool Congress Deputy Derek O’Brien charged the podium of Vice President Harivansh Narayan Singh on Sunday attempting to break the rule book during a debate in Rajya Sabha on farm laws.
Later, however, he denied breaking the book, saying: “If someone can show me pictures of me breaking the book, I will give up Rajya Sabha tomorrow morning. My father was a publisher and I will never tear a page. Today, democracy was murdered. “
O’Brien also ran to the house’s well to protest the Center’s controversial agriculture bills. Members of the opposition charged to the presiding officer’s podium, threw the rule book at him, tore official documents, and insulted him for his demand for a split vote.
The Upper Chamber, which witnessed a brief postponement due to the pandemonium, approved by voice vote the Draft Law on Trade and Commerce of Agricultural Products (Promotion and Facilitation) of 2020, and the Agreement for the Guarantee of Prices and Agricultural Services for the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection). 2020. The bills have already been approved by Lok Sabha and will now go to the President for approval before they are served as laws.
The government is now considering filing a motion against lawmakers who mistreated the vice president in Rajya Sabha. The Prime Minister will be informed of the same after a meeting with the Vice President.
The problems began when the House session was extended beyond the scheduled time to allow passage of the bills. Members of the opposition, who felt that such a move should be resorted to only by consensus, rushed to the Well, shouting slogans against the government and accusing it of being anti-farmer.
This forced the Minister of Agriculture, Narendra Singh Tomar, to interrupt his response and Vice President Harivansh accepted the passage of the bills.
Four opposition-sponsored motions to send the two bills to a House panel for further scrutiny were denied by voice vote, but members of Congress, TMC, CPM and DMK sought a division of votes on the issue.
As Harivansh overruled them by saying that vote splitting can only take place when members are in their seats, O’Brien charged towards the podium, throwing the rule book in the vice president’s face.
The house bailiffs thwarted the move because they also blocked a book that was thrown at Harivansh. An attempt was also made to remove the microphones from the chair, but the bailiffs physically prevented that from happening.
DMK leader Tiruchi Siva, who along with O’Brien, KC Venugopal from the Congress and KK Ragesh from the CPM had tabled resolutions to send the bills to the select committee, tore up papers and threw them into the air.
Harivansh, who asked members to return to their places and not enter the Well due to the Covid-19 protocol that required physical separation, first silenced the audio of live procedures, but as the uproar continued, he postponed the procedure for 15 minutes. .
When the House met again, the opposition parties chanted slogans, but this did not stop Harivansh from putting the bill to a vote.
As the first bill got the approval of the House and motions to send it to a select committee were rejected, at least two members tried to get on the table of Rajya Sabha officers but were knocked down.
TMC’s MP later tweeted a video that read: “The opposition parties had resolutions to send this to a select committee. This government knew they were not in a position to pass this bill. There were 13 or 14 opposition parties, But we saw the brutal assassination of our parliamentary system, assassination of our democracy. Even Rajya Sabha television had been cut down so that we could not show protests. I was handled by four or five bailiffs. The media was not here, now we know why. “
“Rajya Sabha TV was hacked and censored. We have footage of what happened at Rajya Sabha. Members asked for a vote, we were denied. It is unprecedented. Do not spread this kind of propaganda that I broke a rule book. MPs had We have to shoot the footage, we will release it at the right time. Bottom line: the opposition wanted to vote on the farmers’ bill and the BJP didn’t want to vote because they didn’t have the numbers. This story doesn’t end here. BJP said it’s a day ahistorical, but it is a sad day for parliamentary democracy, “he said in another video.
He had also posted a video of his speech in the Rajya Sabha, where he can be heard saying, “How qualified am I to speak about these bills? I belong to a party called the Trinamool Congress. Let me take you back to 2006. The President of this party (Mamata Banerjee), for the sake of farmers, had put his life at risk during a 26-day hunger strike. He was fighting for farmers’ rights. “
“Seven years ago, on September 4, 2013, the land acquisition bills, we only got 13 votes … but we opposed the bill to defend farmers’ rights. In 2016, the Supreme Court said the land must be returned. But then they would say it’s history. The last six years, the Krishi Karman award went to Bengal. The central government scheme is compared to the state scheme, the Bengal scheme is better, “he is heard saying.
“Yesterday, Prime Minister Modi said that the opposition is trying to mislead farmers. What credibility does he have for making the statement? He promised to double farmers ‘incomes by 2022. At the current rate, farmers’ incomes will not double. before 2028 “.
“In Bengal, from Rs 90,000 in 2011, farmers’ income doubled, in fact tripled to Rs 2.90,000. If the food security system were an agency, the minimum price of living is one of the four concerns about agricultural bills. We oppose all the rights of the four states, PDS, acquisitions. Do not take the debate to MSP only, “he said.
“Who (BJP) are they trying to fool … for consumers? What is the protection against hoarding, price increases, speculation? This is now beyond farmers. These bills should be discussed and debated. You (BJP) have the right to get away with it. We have the right to keep you on track, “the Trinamool deputy had said that same day.
(With PTI inputs)
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