Govt ready to talk farm issues, says Tomar as Lok Sabha adjourned for the day

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, February 2

Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day after the Opposition disrupted proceedings demanding repeal of farm laws even as the Government assured the members it was ready to debate the matter.

Agriculture Minister Narendra Tomar said the government was willing to discuss farmers issues inside and outside the Parliament but the Opposition was “wasting the time of the Parliament” by disrupting proceedings even when it could have discussed farmers welfare in question hour today.

“Today several questions related to farmers’ welfare had been listed in question hour. Had the opposition heeded, the issue would have been half discussed by now. But the opposition didn’t hear even Speaker’s appeals. Time is being wasted when the parliament has to enact several major bills for the welfare of the poor and the downtrodden and the houses have been called despite COVID,” Tomar said amid opposition MPs storming the well and raising slogans for farm law repeal.

Speaker Om Birla was forced to adjourn the house until 5 pm within 10 minutes of convening the house at  4 pm after the opposition MPs, including Congress, Left, TMC, NCP, Shiv Sena, Akali Dal and RLP, storming the well and raising “take back black laws” slogans.

The Speaker later adjourned the house till 7 pm after parliamentary standing committee reports for the day were laid.

As BJP member from Hoogly, Locket Chatterjee, initiated the discussion in the evening at 7 pm, Opposition MPs rushed to the Well, raising slogans against the “three black farm laws”. The Speaker's assurance that he will allow them to raise their points if they returned to their seats failed to cut ice. “Kindly return to your own seats….I will give you adequate time to raise your issues,” he said

Home Minister Amit Shah was present when Opposition MPs stormed the well, raising “take back black laws” slogans. Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Prahlad Joshi called it “deeply disturbing” that the Opposition was disrupting the proceeding during the motion of thanks to the President. “This is the motion of thanks to the President… this is against the ‘parampara’ (tradition) of the House… It has never happened before,” Joshi said, as Chatterjee was forced to stop speaking barely a couple of minutes into her speech   

The BJP’s MP from poll-bound West Bengal had moved the motion saying “Members of the Lok Sabha assembled in this Session are deeply grateful to the President for the Address which he has been pleased to deliver to both Houses of Parliament assembled together on January 29, 2021” after the House met at 7 pm following repeated disruptions throughout the day. During her brief time that she spoke, she recalled the contribution of Subhas Chandra Bose and also spoke in Bangla.   

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