Opposition Parties Boycotts Rajya Sabha

Opposition Parties Boycotts Rajya Sabha

A number of opposition parties on Tuesday staged a walkout from Rajya Sabha and decided to boycott proceedings of the House till the suspension of eight members is revoked, even as the government insisted on their apology.

Among the parties that boycotted the proceedings of the House included the Congress, which was the among the first to walk out, followed by members of the CPI-M, CPI, TMC, NCP, SP, Shiv Sena, RJD, DMK, AAP and the TRS.

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad, said they would boycott the proceedings till the suspension of members is revoked and also demanded that the government bring another Bill to ensure that no private player should buy food grains from farmers below the MSP fixed by the government. “The government should also ensure that the MSP is fixed as per c2 formula under the Swaminathan Committee, and it should also ensure that all procurement done by Central, State governments and the FCI be not done below MSP,” he said. “The colleagues who have been suspended for the rest of the session, their suspension be revoked. Till the government does these three things, we will boycott the session,” Azad said while walking out.

Eight members of Rajya Sabha were suspended on Monday over their “unruly behaviour” during the passage of the two key farm Bills on Sunday. Azad also said members should get more time to speak and time constraint had become a major issue of discontent among opposition parties.

The Congress leader said the government now wants “one nation, one market” with which they had no problem. “The government earlier said ‘one nation, one tax’ and then ‘one nation, one ration card’, but for God’s sake, don’t go towards ‘one nation, one party’.”

Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu lamented that the chair had been dragged into the controversy and said members should not put the blame on the chair. Naidu made a fresh appeal to members of all opposition parties to rethink their decision of boycotting proceedings and participate in discussions of the House. He also lamented that the suspended members in an interview justified their action and showed no remorse.PTI