Opposition to boycott RS till suspension of 8 MPs is revoked: Azad

The Opposition will boycott the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha until the suspension of eight MPs is revoked, leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said on Tuesday (September 22).

Opposition parties including Congress, Trinamool Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and Left parties staged a walkout from the Upper House in protest against the suspension of their MPs.

Speaking after the Zero Hour, Azad demanded the government to introduce a bill that would bar private players from procuring food grains below the minimum support price (MSP) fixed by the government. He also asked the government that the MSP should be fixed from time to time as the C2 Swaminathan formula.

The Congress has also decided to launch a nationwide protest against the three farm bills and run a signature campaign, involving as many as two crore farmers, for a memorandum against the legislations. The same would be sent to the President to stop the bills from being made laws.

The eight suspended members of Rajya Sabha have been staging an indefinite sit-in on the lawns of Parliament since Monday.

They were suspended on Monday for “unruly behaviour” during the passage of the farm bills by the House through voice vote.

The eight MPs who spent the night on the Parliament lawns refused tea offered by Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh on Tuesday morning, and called him “anti-farmer”.

On Sunday the eight MPs had snatched papers when Harivansh was the chair of the House and demanded a no-confidence motion against him for conducting a voice vote on the bills.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded the gesture of the deputy chairman for extending an olive branch to those who “attacked and insulted him a few days ago.”

Harivansh later declared that he too will stage a 24-hour fast in protest against the treatment meted out to him on Sunday.