The Rajya Sabha witnessed extraordinary scenes on Tuesday, with Opposition members, majority of whom dressed in black or sporting black bands, clambered onto the table in front of the Chair, protesting against the government for trying to push through a diluted debate on the farmers’ issue instead of going for a repeal of the three controversial farm laws.
This is the second time the government tried to bring a discussion on the farmers’ issue to bypass a debate on the Pegasus cyberattack. On August 4, it made a similar attempt only to be told by the Opposition that Pegasus precedes any other discussion.
The trouble began from the moment the House convened for the day at 11:00 a.m. Chairman Venkaiah Naidu, ignored the notices demanding a debate on Pegasus which, he said, had already been taken up. He then announced that the House would debate “the agricultural problems and solutions”.
He said, “Today is the 16th sitting of the monsoon session of this august House. The House functioned at the rate of just one hour a day. The important subject of farmers is scheduled for discussion. I am allowing it. If the House is not allowed to function today, a message will also go that this House is not concerned about the plight of the farmers who are the bread-givers for our people”.
Parliament proceedings updates | August 10, 2021
The Opposition disagreed with him and began their protest. The first adjournment came within six minutes.
The House again met at 12:00 for the question hour. It ran for nearly 30 minutes when questions and answers were taken up amidst din.
Things came to a head when the House reconvened at 2:00 p.m. and Vice Chairman Bhubaneshwar Kalita, who was in the Chair, tried to initiate a debate on “the agricultural problems and solutions”. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, who has been listed as one of the movers of the discussion, said the calling attention he had proposed was entirely different. It was on repeal of the farm laws and the farmers’ agitation. “This is completely unilateral and this is not acceptable to me,” he said. Six BJP members and three Congress members, including Mr. Ramesh, were listed as movers of this motion.
The BJP’s Vijay Pal Singh Tomar and the BJD’s Prasanna Acharya spoke on the issue in the din. As soon as Mr. Acharya concluded his speech, Aam Aadmi Party’s Sanjay Singh who, along with other Opposition members was in the well of the House, clambered on top of the “reporters’ table” that is right in front of the secretary general and the Chair. The TV cameras did not show any of this, panning the camera on the treasury benches. Mr. Kalita hurriedly adjourned the House for 15 minutes, even as other members followed Mr. Singh on top of the table. Mr. Singh was pulled down by marshals.
Shouting match
During the 15 minutes, there was complete chaos. As per a video shared by many members on their social media account, Congress’s Pratap Singh Bajwa climbed onto the table and threw a file at the empty seat of the Chairman. Soon, male and female marshals poured in surrounding the members, protecting the Secretary General’s seat and the chair. The adjournment also saw a shouting match between the Opposition and the treasury benches. Many slogans and counter-slogans were heard during this time.
By the time the House again met after 15 minutes, the “reporters’ table” was cleared of all the House officials and was populated with Opposition members. Along with Mr. Singh, Mr. Bajwa, the Congress’s Ripun Bora and Rajamani Patel, the CPI(M)’s V Sivadasan, the CPI’s Binoy Viswam and many others were sitting at the table. Mr. Singh once again stood up and waved a black flag. The Rajya Sabha TV again only focused their cameras on the treasury members and avoid the Opposition protests.
The House was once again hurriedly adjourned. This time Mr. Kalita appealed to all Opposition leaders to come for a meeting. During the meeting, it was decided that the House will be adjourned for the day at 4:00 p.m.
(With inputs from Damini Nath)
