-Opposition boycotts sitting, BJP MPs left alone during session
-India witnesses barely any discussion on any of the presented bills
New Delhi: In one of the fastest moving days in its history, Rajya Sabha on Tuesday in a matter of 3.5 passed seven key bills including one that removes cereals, pulses and onion from the essential commodities list and another that abolishes penalty for certain offences by companies.
This happened after most of the opposition including the Congress, Left parties, the TMC, the Samajwadi Party and the NCP decided to boycott House proceedings in protest against the suspension of eight MPs for the remainder of the session for unruly behaviour. Only members from the ruling BJP and its ally JD-U and those of parties such as AIADMK, BJD, YSR-Congress and TDP, which have been extending support to the Modi government on various issues, participated in the debates on the bills. In most bills, the members participation was sparse and the minister’s reply brief.
The Upper House took up government legislative business after nearly an hour of discussion over the conduct of opposition MPs during the passage of two agriculture reform bills on Sunday, with Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu saying the suspension could be revoked if the members expressed regret over their action. First, it passed a bill to declare five newly-established Indian Institutes of Information Technology as institutions of national importance.
The crucial Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, which removes cereals, pulses, oilseeds, edible oils, onion and potatoes from the list of essential commodities and removes stockholding limits on them, was passed next.–Agencies
