All social distancing and precautions related to Covid-19 were violated when members of the opposition stepped onto the president’s podium, pulled his microphone, tore official documents, and interrupted the president because they opposed the government’s push to pass the two bills. of law without considering your demand to refer them. to a committee of the House.
The pandemonium prevailed after Vice President Harivansh quashed the opposition’s pleas to postpone Tomar’s response until Monday, as the House’s scheduled session time had ended. Congressional MPs, TMC, DMK, and leftist parties stormed the well. Rajeev Satav of Congress and Sanjay Singh of AAP climbed to the House table and were brought down by additional security forces called to stand guard.
As the security detail formed a human chain around the House table to prevent parliamentarians from raising it, amid noisy scenes, the RS approved the two controversial agricultural bills by voice vote.
The disruption began shortly after Harivansh allowed the House to expand. The opposition leader, Ghulam Nabi Azad, demanded that the response to the debate be postponed until Monday. He cited a precedent to say that consensus should guide the decision on the expansion of the House.
When Harivansh moved to refer the bills to a select committee for a vote, opposition MPs with slogans fell into the pit. Motions were denied by voice vote even when their promoters sought to split the votes.
As the president took clause-by-clause approval of the bills, Derek O’Brien of TMC and some other members of the opposition took the podium and showed Harivansh the regulations. Members shouting slogans also tried to interrupt the president who was protected by the House bailiffs. The latter also tried to save the microphones.
The vice president’s pleas citing the coronavirus and the importance of social distancing failed to dissuade members who kept shouting slogans. The microphones installed in the house were muted and a few minutes later, the procedure was suspended for about 15 minutes.
The same scenes played out after the House resumed and at least one member stepped onto the officials table. On the demand for division of votes, Harivansh said a division of the House well could not be sought and asked members to return to their seats. According to the procedure, pressure groups must be authorized to allow electronic voting on legislation.
As the chaos continued, the vice president put the two bills to a vote and they were approved by oral vote.
Despite the postponement, the protesting parliamentarians continued their protests inside the RS chamber. This had a trickle-down effect on the Lok Sabha proceedings, which were scheduled to begin at 3 p.m., and whose members also sit in RS’s chamber in light of Covid’s physical distancing protocols.
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