AMN
Proceedings in the Lok Sabha began on a stormy note today with the Opposition disrupting the house over the ongoing agitation by farmers protesting against the three farm laws.
Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar today informed the Lok Sabha that the government is willing to discuss the three farm reform laws both inside and outside Parliament even as Opposition members continued their protests demanding their repeal. Their relentless protests and sloganeering soon after the house met at 4 pm led to adjournment of its proceedings in the house. Only a few questions could be taken up during the Question Hour before the house was adjourned.
Speaker Om Birla asked protesting Opposition members, including from the Congress and TMC, to go back to their seats as he assured that he will allow them to raise their issues. However, his request went unheeded. As the protests continued after the house met at 5 pm following adjournment, the Minister said, the government is willing to discuss every aspect of the agriculture issues and asked the Opposition to be part of the discussion instead of indulging in protests and slogan-shouting.
Mr Tomar said, if the Question Hour had taken place, he would have answered a number of queries related to the farmers’ issues. He asked the Opposition to discuss the matter instead of wasting time. Speaker Birla told the members that Parliament is a forum for debates and discussions and he repeatedly pleaded with the protesting members to go back to their seats and take part in the discussion. Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury of the Congress spoke briefly but protests continued, forcing the Speaker to adjourn the house again.
Earlier, as soon as the proceedings started at 4 pm, Opposition members from Congress, DMK and Trinamool Congress trooped into the well of the house raising slogans demanding the repeal of what they dubbed as black laws. Some of the Shivsena members were seen raising slogans from the aisles. Former Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal of the Shiromani Akali Dal was displaying a poster demanding repeal of the three agriculture laws.
Speaker Om Birla urged the members to return to their seats and follow the COVID-19 protocol. He said, questions related to farmers were listed and members can raise their issues during the Question Hour. He also suggested that the members can also raise the issues during the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address. But the Opposition members, however, refused to relent forcing the Speaker to adjourn the house at around 4.10 pm.
Several farmers’ unions have been staging protests on various border points of Delhi demanding the repeal of the farm laws. The Lok Sabha took up the discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address when it met at 7 pm. Locket Chatterjee of the BJP initiated the discussion amid continued Opposition protests. She said, the ongoing year is very important as India will celebrate the 75th year of Independence. She also made a reference to Subhas Chandra Bose and Rabindranath Tagore. With Opposition members raising slogans against the three farm laws, Speaker Om Birla asked them to go to their seats but in vain. Later, he adjourned the house for the day.
