Rajya Sabha starts without Opposition party MPs; strategy meeting on boycott & farm bills later today

The Rajya Sabha proceedings started on Wednesday without the Opposition party leaders. The Opposition parties have have decided to boycott the proceedings over suspension of eight members of Parliament.

Eight MPs of the Opposition including Trinamool Congress’ Derek O’Brien, Dola Sen, Congress’ Rajeev Satav, CPM’s KK Ragesh and Aam Admi Party’s Sanjay Singh were suspended from the Rajya Sabha on Monday for “unruly” behaviour in the House on Sunday when the controversial farm bills were being passed. After suspension, they started a sit-in on the lawns of Parliament complex. The Opposition parties on Tuesday said they would boycott the Rajya Sabha proceedings till three key demands were met with, including revoking the suspension of eight members.

The Opposition will meet later on Wednesday to work out strategies for increasing pressure on the government over the controversial farm bills. The Opposition parties that have boycotted the ongoing monsoon session in the Rajya Sabha will meet at the office of Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is the Leader of Opposition in the House.

Meanwhile, the Rajya Sabha passed the amendments to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act. Other bills to be taken up in the Rajya Sabha includes The Bilateral Netting of Qualified Financial Contracts Bill, 2020, The Appropriation (No.3) Bill, 2020, The Appropriation (No.4) Bill, 2020.

The bills to be taken up in the Lok Sabha are The Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill, 2020, The Factoring Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2020 and The Major Port Authorities Bill, 2020.

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