TMC protests in RS over NRC, Rajnath tables statement
New Delhi, Aug 1 : The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday witnessed vociferous protests by Trinamool Congress (TMC) members over the Assam NRC issue, forcing house Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu to adjourn the house for the day.
Due to disruptions, Home Minister Rajnath Singh could not make a statement and was forced to table it instead whereas BJP President Amit Shah could not conclude his speech that he started on Tuesday.
As the upper house of Parliament reassembled at 2 p.m., Naidu asked Shah to resume his speech related to the discussion on the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam that he could not complete due to pandemonium on Tuesday.
At this, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Sukhendu Shekhar Roy raised a point of order and said that as per the rules of conduct of the upper house, a member cannot speak twice on the same issue if he fails to complete his speech in the first instance.
But his point was rejected by the Chairman.
Naidu said that he had given Shah permission to complete his speech and asked him to continue.
As the point of order was rejected, the TMC members trooped near the Chairman's podium and started raising slogans, asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi to come to the house and make a statement on the issue.
Naidu urged the TMC members to go back to their seats and allow Shah to continue, but the Trinamool members did not relent.
"It seems a conspiracy... not letting the house function by creating a controversy... You are doing something which is not acceptable in parliamentary system," Naidu said.
As they continued with their protest and sloganeering, Naidu appealed to Roy to ask his party members to return to their seats.
"You create disorder and you raise point of order... there must be some patience to hear the reply," he said.
"Are we at the mercy of one party?... this is unbecoming of Parliament members," Naidu said as he requested the agitating MPs to go back to their seats.
Amid the din, Shah rose from his seat but couldn't continue with his speech. He requested the Chair amid the din to go ahead with the Home Minister's reply and sat down.
On Tuesday, Shah's remarks that the earlier governments did not have the courage to implement the Assam Accord signed in 1985 had provoked the opposition to protest.
Naidu then called Rajnath Singh to give his reply and asked the members to restore order. However, as the sloganeering continued, the Home Minister tabled his reply amid the din.
As Naidu's appeals went unheeded by agitating TMC members, he said: "This seems to be a system that you spoke, you had your say and now (you) come and disturb the proceedings. You don't want to hear the reply."
"As some of the members are not willing to hear the Home Minister and as they are not ready to relent, I am adjourning the house for the day," Naidu said before adjourning the upper house.
Earlier, when the house met for the day, it was adjourned till noon as the Congress members stood up to register their protest against Shah's remarks.
Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma asked Chairman Naidu to expunge Shah's comments wherein he said "you did not have the courage, but we have it to implement the NRC".
Naidu said that he would look into the issue and expunge any remarks found uncalled for.
The opposition members objected. Amid the noise, Naidu adjourned the house till noon.
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Cong cites Kangana's purported remarks to accuse BJP of wanting to bring back repealed farm laws
New Delhi, Sep 24: The Congress on Tuesday cited BJP MP Kangana Ranaut's purported remarks on farm laws to allege that the ruling party was making efforts to bring back the three laws that were repealed in 2021, and asserted that Haryana will give a befitting reply to it.
The Congress shared on X an undated video of Ranaut in which she is purportedly saying in Hindi, "Farm laws that have been repealed should be brought back. I think this may get controversial. The laws in farmers' interest be brought back. Farmers should themselves demand this (to bring farm laws back) so that there is no hindrance to their prosperity.
"Farmers are a pillar of strength in India's progress. Only in some states, they had objected to farm laws. I appeal with folded hands that farm laws should be brought back in the interest of farmers."
In a post in Hindi along with the video, the Congress said, "The three black laws imposed on farmers should be brought back: BJP MP Kangana Ranaut has said this. More than 750 farmers of the country were martyred, only then did the Modi government wake up and these black laws were withdrawn."
Now BJP MPs are planning to bring back these laws, the Congress alleged.
"The Congress is with the farmers. These black laws will never return, no matter how hard Narendra Modi and his MPs try," the opposition party said on X.
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate also shared the video of Ranaut on X and said, "'All three farm laws should be brought back': BJP MP Kangana Ranaut. More than 750 farmers were martyred while protesting against the three black farmer laws. Efforts are being made to bring them back."
"We will never let that happen. Haryana will answer first," she said in an apparent reference to the assembly polls in Haryana.
Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera also shared the video on X and said it was the BJP's "real thinking".
"How many times will you deceive the farmers, you two-faced people?" Khera said in a post in Hindi.
The three laws -- Farmer's Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act; The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act; and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act -- were repealed in November 2021.
The farmers' protest started at the fag-end of November 2020 and ended after Parliament repealed the three laws. The legislations came into force in June 2020 and were repealed in November 2021.
“तीनों किसान क़ानून वापस लाये जाने चाहिए” : BJP MP कंगना रनौत
— Supriya Shrinate (@SupriyaShrinate) September 24, 2024
जिन तीन काले किसान विरोधी क़ानूनों की मुख़ालिफ़त करते 750 से ज़्यादा किसान शहीद हो गए
उनको दोबारा से लाने की कोशिश की जा रही है. हम ऐसा कभी नहीं होने देंगे
सबसे पहला जवाब हरियाणा देगा pic.twitter.com/kRAkRuE2cc
