The Bill to Repeal Contentious Farm Laws Passed in Parliament, 12 RS members Suspended

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, Nov 29: The bill to repeal the three contentious farm laws against which the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has launched a country-wide agitation, was passed by both the houses of Parliament on Monday without any discussion amidst opposition uproar forcing several adjournments.

The official sources said the government planned to secure the presidential assent on the bill to complete the formality for the withdrawal of the three acts.

In an unprecedented move, even before the bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha, 12 opposition members were suspended for the entire duration of the winter session which began on Monday for the alleged violence they committed on the last day of the monsoon session which ended in August.

The bill to repeal the acts was passed by the Lok Sabha in a record time of just four minutes from the introduction of the measure to its passage while in the Rajya Sabha the bill was adopted after a very short discussion including an address by the Congress leader in the upper house Mallikarjun Kharge who claimed that all the opposition parties were with the government in this respect in withdrawing the contentious acts.

The Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021, was passed in both Houses on the first day of the winter session of the Parliament starting on Monday. After the bills were passed, the Houses were adjourned until 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday. Even though several Opposition members in both the Houses protested after tabling of the Bill, it was passed without any discussion.

Opposition leaders in the Lok Sabha objected to the government rushing through the measure without any discussion pointing out that a discussion had taken place on the five or six occasions in the past when a law was scrapped.

“Modi I (2014-19): Repealing and Amending Bill 2017 was one instance. Six MPs participated in discussion. A fig leaf of democracy then. Some shame. Modi II (2019-today): #FarmLaws Repeal Bill 2021 taken up and passed. NO debate allowed. Not even a fig leaf of democracy. SHAMELESS,” tweeted Trinamool Congress’ Derek O’Brien.

The Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, while addressing reporters at Vijay Chowk outside Parliament, said his party had predicted that the government would have to take back the three ‘black farm laws.’ “We had said so because we know that the strength of 3-4 capitalists cannot stand in front of the power of the farmers of India,” he said.

Gandhi also slammed the manner in which the Bills were repealed and alleged the Central Government of “running scared of a discussion.” “The discussion would have been on the farmers who died during the agitation, who was behind the laws. The discussion would also have been on Lakhimpur Kheri and the Minister of State for Home Affairs whose son is an accused,” Gandhi added.

The opposition claimed the government evaded a discussion to avoid the issue of minimum support price for farmers’ produce, which has been a key demand during their year-long agitation.

Minutes after the two houses began the winter session, opposition members raised slogans disrupting the proceedings in the Lok Sabha. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his government was ready to reply to all questions. “Whatever voices are raised against the government or government policies – the dignity of parliament and the Speaker’s Chair should be upheld,” he said.

Over the next 18 sittings, the government is expected to introduce more than 30 legislative Bills and one Finance Bill.

The other bills include the crucial Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy (Second Amendment) Bill, 2021, and the Electricity (Amendment) Bill.

The Prime Minister had on Sunday skipped the all party meeting customarily held before every session of Parliament but the ruling party denied that it amounted to any break in the tradition. The Parliamentary Affairs minister Pralhad Joshi claimed, “There was no tradition of Prime Minister attending the all-party meeting. It was started by Modi ji.”

Meanwhile, 12 opposition members of the Rajya Sabha, were suspended from the House for the entire duration of the winter session for alleged violence on the last day of the monsoon session a few months ago. The opposition has condemned the suspension, saying it is against the rules. The motion to suspend the members adopted by the House said the MPs had willingly committed “unprecedented acts of misconduct, contemptuous, violent and unruly behaviour and intentional attacks on the security personnel.” The suspended MPs included Shiv Sena’s Priyanka Chaturvedi and Anil Desai, Trinamool Congress’s Dola Sen and Shanta Chhetri CPM’s Elamaram Kareem and six Congress leaders. The six suspended members from the Congress are — Phulo Devi Netam, Chhaya Verma, Ripun Bora, Rajamani Patel, Syed Nasir Hussain and Akhilesh Prasad Singh.

In a joint statement, the opposition said the suspension was “unwarranted and undemocratic” and that the floor leaders of the parties will have a strategy meet tomorrow.  The letter, however, was not signed by the Trinamool Congress, which skipped Monday’s opposition meet also.

It was the first time the upper house initiated such a measure as there was no precedence of action being taken against MPs for their doings in a previous session. The Rule 256, under which they have been suspended, says an MP can be suspended “for a period not exceeding the remainder of the session.”

Pointing out the rule, Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Manoj Jha said if the suspension is not withdrawn the opposition will boycott the whole of Winter Session. The chaotic Monsoon session – where the government and the opposition were at loggerheads over demands to discuss the Pegasus spyware issue — had concluded on August 11 amid shocking violence and allegations of manhandling of women.

The house had erupted as the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Amendment Bill was passed despite demands to refer it to a select committee.  CCTV footage of the proceedings showed opposition members jostling security personnel inside the Rajya Sabha. MPs armed with black flags were seen climbing tables and scattering files and documents.

While the government accused the opposition of manhandling women marshals, the opposition, in a joint statement, alleged that outsiders were “brought in to manhandle opposition leaders and members, including women MPs.” The government also denied opposition claims of “outsiders” being brought in and the matter was finally referred to a special committee of MPs for investigation. The Congress, however, distanced itself from any committee, saying an investigation would comprise an attempt to bully MPs into silence.

The security report from the Rajya Sabha had said one MP mahandled and “severely choked the neck of a male marshal and dragged him in order to break the security cordon.” It also said a woman marshal was “pulled and dragged” by women MPs and assaulted in the Well of the House.

The Upper House had witnessed ugly scenes when the Opposition members were protesting against the three farm bills during the monsoon session. The Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh announced the suspension of the members and immediately afterwards adjourned the House till Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, five newly elected MPs to the Rajya Sabha — Congress leader Rajni Ashokrao Patil, DMK’s Kanimozhi N.V.N. Somu, K.R.N. Rajesh Kumar, and M.M. Abdullah, and TMC’s Luizinho Faleiro — took oath as a member of the Upper House of the Parliament.