Opposition raises farm stir, obstructs Parliament business

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 2

The shadow of the farm agitation loomed over the Parliament session with both Houses adjourned without transaction of business on Tuesday after the Opposition stalled the proceedings seeking a standalone discussion on issues concerning the farmers.

Police had no option but to use mild force: Govt

Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy on Tuesday informed Parliament that the Delhi Police had no option but to use mild force to control the unruly mob on January 26.

Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla adjourned the Houses thrice and twice, respectively, before winding up for the day. Naidu and Birla lamented the waste of question hour, an agenda the Opposition had vehemently demanded when it was scrapped during the monsoon session last September.

In the LS, the Opposition obstructed BJP’s Hooghly MP Locket Chatterjee from initiating the debate on the motion of thanks on the President’s Address, an act the government termed “unprecedented and anti-convention.”

Home Minister Amit Shah was in the House when this happened at 7 pm, minutes before the LS was adjourned for the day.

Naidu and Birla earlier urged Opposition MPs to use the question hour to raise farmers’ issues, reminding them, “When the question hour was dropped last session, you had all called it a murder of democracy.”

The Opposition disrupted both Houses and raised “take back black laws” slogans after presiding officers rejected their notices for suspension of business to discuss farmers’ issues.

The Congress, TMC, Left, RJD, AAP and DMK MPs gave the notices in both Houses but Naidu and Birla disallowed them, asking the Opposition to talk about farmers during question hour and during discussions on the motion of thanks.

When the LS resumed at 5 pm, Agriculture Minister Narendra Tomar said, “If they (Opposition) want to talk about farmers, we are ready both inside and outside Parliament. Today also, several questions on farmer welfare were listed in the question hour. Had they participated, half the discussion would have been over. But time is being wasted when several important legislations have to be enacted.”

PM Modi and Shah were present in the Rajya Sabha when Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi asked the Opposition to “clarify its stand on the question hour as they were disrupting it.”

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