LIVE Parliament Updates: ‘Farmer agitation on Delhi borders causing inconvenience to residents’, Center to Rajya Sabha

RajyaSabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu suspends three AAP members for creating uproar in Parliament. Image Credit: @DDNewslive

Latest updates from Parliament: State Minister for Home G Kishan Reddy said large convoys of farmers protesting on tractors tried “furiously” to break through police barricades into Delhi on Republic Day in protest against farm laws. .

An additional five hours have been added to the length of the discussion in Rajya Sabha on a motion thanking the president for his speech at the joint session of Parliament to allow debate on farmers’ protest against three agricultural reforms.

Ghulam Nabi Azad of Congress invoked the Indigo movement and Kheda satyagraha, both led by Mahatma Gandhi, while discussing agricultural laws in Rajya Sabha. “No force is greater than the force of farmers,” he said.

A high-decibel session is expected in both Houses of Parliament on Wednesday, with discussions of the new farm laws in the cards.

Three members of the Aam Aadmi Party were removed from Rajya Sabha on Wednesday after President M Venkaiah Naidu asked them to stand down as they entered the House Well raising slogans against the new agricultural laws.

The government said in Lok Sabha on Tuesday that it was willing to discuss farmer-related issues both inside and outside Parliament amid vociferous protests from the Opposition that forced repeated postponements from both Houses.

Rajya Sabha was postponed for Tuesday without major transactions as Congress and other members of the opposition created an uproar demanding a debate on the issue of farmers’ protest over the three new farm laws.

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar told Lok Sabha after the first postponement that the Modi government is always committed to discussing farmers’ problems.

“The government is ready to discuss farmer-related issues inside and outside Parliament,” he said amid slogans from opposition members.

Tomar’s response came after the leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury claimed that 170 farmers have been killed during the ongoing agitation against the three controversial farm laws.

“Atrocities are being committed against farmers. The situation is similar to that of British rule,” Chowdhury alleged.

Rajya Sabha was suspended first for about 40 minutes until 10.30am, then 11.30am, and then 12.30pm.

After the President’s speech to both Houses of Parliament on Friday and the presentation of the Union’s budget on Monday, Tuesday was the first ordinary session of Parliament.

When the upper house reconvened at 12:30 pm, protesting members again flocked into the Well raising slogans, forcing Vice President Harivansh to suspend proceedings for the day.

In Lok Sabha, opposition members primarily from Congress, DMK, and the Trinamool Congress rushed to the House Well to demand the repeal of the three “black” laws.

Members of the Shiv Sena were seen raising slogans from the corridors. Former Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal of Shiromani Akali Dal was also seen holding a placard demanding the repeal of contentious agricultural laws.

Spokesperson Om Birla urged members to return to their seats and follow the COVID-19 protocol. He said that in the current Question Time, questions related to farmers were listed and members can raise their issues at that time.

He also said that during the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Speech, members can raise these issues. But members of the opposition refused to budge.

The Lower House was suspended due to interruptions around 4.30, 5 p.m. and for the day shortly after 7 p.m.

In Rajya Sabha, four bills were listed for consideration and approval in the legislative affairs of the day. These were: the bill of the main port authorities, 2020; The bill of the National Institutes of Technology, Entrepreneurship and Food Management, 2019; The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020; and the draft law of the National Commission for Allied Professions and Health, 2020.

When Lok Sabha reconvened at 7pm, President Om Birla asked BJP member Locket Chatterjee to initiate discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Speech amid slogans from opposition members .

Chatterjee began his speech by praising the government for deciding to celebrate Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s birthday on January 23 as ‘Parakram Diwas’ every year. The West Bengal state member, who is at the polls, continued her speech amid the din.

After repeated appeals from the president and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi failed to calm the agitated members, Birla adjourned the House session for the day.

Joshi regrets that the debate on the Motion of Thanks was never interrupted and what the opposition was doing “was not fair.”

In Rajya Sabha, opposition leader and congressional leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said that farmers have been camping on the borders of Delhi for more than two months and the issue must be discussed.

Sukhendu Sekhar Roy (TMC) said the House is not aware of what is happening between the government and farmers and the House should discuss the issue separately from the Motion of Thanks.

“We want a discussion on a specific topic,” he said.

While CPM leader Elamaram Kareem said water and electricity supplies to farmers’ protest sites were cut off, DMK’s Tiruchi Siva said farmers have been sitting on the roads for more than two months in the cold and that the topic should be discussed separately.

Manoj Jha (RJD) said that Parliament should at least discuss the issue.

However, President M Venkaiah Naidu disagreed with his motion, after which members of Congress, left-wing parties, TMC, DMK, and RJD went on strike.

Several farmers’ unions have been organizing protests for more than 70 days at various border points in Delhi demanding the repeal of farm laws.