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2 Farm Bills passed amid Oppn ruckus, papers torn, mic broken

The Rajya Sabha on Sunday passed two contentious farm bills, which have triggered protests by farmers at several places, amid uproar by Opposition members.

Uproarious scenes were witnessed in the Upper House when some opposition members led by the TMC climbed on to the chairman's podium as the government pushed for the passage of two contentious farm bills.

Shouting slogans, opposition members, including those from the TMC, Congress and Left, created ruckus after Deputy Chairman Harivansh did Amid the ruckus, the House was adjourned briefly.

Some opposition members led by the TMC climbed on to the chairman's podium, tore official papers, and heckled the presiding officer as they opposed the government's push to pass two contentious farm bills on Sunday without considering their demand for sending the proposed legislations to a house committee.

Slogan-shouting members tried to heckle the presiding officer who was protected by House marshals.

BJP president JP Nadda says oppn conduct in Rajya Sabha during passage of bills highly irresponsible, attack on democracy.

Congress, other opposition parties sit in protest inside Rajya Sabha after farm bills passed amid din and House adjourned.

The two bills -- Farmer's Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 -- were passed by Lok Sabha on Thursday.

BJP president JP Nadda says opposition conduct in Rajya Sabha during passage of bills highly irresponsible, attack on democracy.

Congress, other opposition parties sit in protest inside Rajya Sabha after farm bills passed amid din and House adjourned.

Earlier, the House rejected demand of several Opposition parties to send the two bills to a Rajya Sabha Select Committee for greater scrutiny. These bills will now be sent to the President of India for assent.

The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 seeks to provide freedom to farmers to sell their produce anywhere in the country.

The second bill, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020, provides for a national framework on farming agreements that protects and empowers farmers to engage with agri-business firms, processors, wholesalers, exporters or large retailers for farm services.

The opposition has been protesting against the Bills and have been demanding that they be sent to a Select Committee. The Rajya Sabha erupted in a major ruckus after Deputy Chairman Harivansh sought the members’ approval to extend the time of sitting of the House beyond 1 pm till the passage of the Bills.

The opposition members, aware that they did not have the numbers to defeat the bill in the House, demanded that the House be adjourned as per the scheduled time. However, the Deputy Chairman continued with the proceedings of the House and asked Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar to continue his response to the debate on the Bills.

At this point of time, Opposition members started protesting against the Deputy Chairman’s decision to extend the timing without a ‘consensus’ of the House.

Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said the extension should be on the basis of the consensus not on the basis of the ruling party’s number. He added that the House should be adjourned and the Bills should be passed tomorrow.

The RS Deputy Speaker did not accept the demand to adjourn the House, and some extremely agitated opposition members arrived at the well and began snatching and throwing away papers from the table.

Some of the members even broke the mic that was fixed on the table of the chair. Due to this, the House could not function properly and was adjourned for 15 minutes.

During the ruckus in the Parliament, senior Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Derek O'Brien even entered the well of the House and tore papers of farm bills. He also showed the House rule book to Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh.

Apart from O'Brien, several other opposition leaders entered the well of the House and raised slogans against the farm bills. They, however, were asked to return to their seats by Harivansh. However, the ruckus continued in the Parliament, following which the House was adjourned till 1.40 pm.

After the House resumed at 1:40 pm again, the Deputy Speaker took up statutory resolutions moved by the opposition members, seeking the reference of the Bills to a Select Committee. However, these resolutions were negated by the House.

Meanwhile, the opposition members surrounded the well again and started sloganeering.

In the midst of the uproar, the Rajya Sabha took up the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, clause by clause, into consideration and passed by a voice vote.

Soon after this, the second farm bill– The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020—was also passed.

The agricultural bills -- Farmers' and Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 and Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 -- were passed in the Lok Sabha earlier this week and were moved in the Rajya Sabha on Sunday by Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar.

"The two Bills are historic and will bring a change in the lives of the farmers. The farmers will be able to freely trade their produce anywhere in the country. I want to assure the farmers that these Bills are not related to Minimum Support Price," said Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, as reported by news agency ANI.

The Opposition, however, continued its attack at the opposition and said that the government wants to "destroy the farmers and help the corporate sector".

"PM said that Opposition is misleading the farmers. You (Centre) said double farmer income by 2022. But, at current rates, the farmer income will not be doubled before 2028. Your credibility is low to make promises," ANI quoted TMC's Derek O'Brien as saying.

With inputs from PTI, News18, Agencies.