Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi on Monday condemned the unruly behaviour of opposition MPs during protests over farm bills in the Rajya Sabha, and said their "misbehaviour" with the Upper House Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh was "unacceptable". He also sought to know if opposition RJD, which had also joined the protest, favours reinstatement of the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act in Bihar, which was repealed in 2006 by the then NDA government to "check exploitation of farmers".
"The deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha is a decent, educated and noted journalist. Not just Bihar, the entire country is unhappy with the manner in which he was treated by the opposition members, including those of the Congress and the RJD," the senior BJP leader said. He noted that opposition members had violated the COVID-19 protocols, refused to maintain physical distance, climbed the chairmans podium, flung the rule book at him and tore official papers, during their protest over farm bills.
"It was unprecedented... Whatever happened in Rajya Sabha yesterday is highly condemnable," Modi said during a press conference here. Two key farm bills, dubbed as the biggest reform in agriculture by the Union government, were on Sunday passed by Rajya Sabha with voice vote amid protests by opposition members who demanded that the proposed legislation be referred to a House panel for greater scrutiny.
Several opposition members charged towards the podium of the deputy chairman, yanked his microphone and heckled him over their demand for a division of vote on their motion to refer the legislation to a select committee. Eight opposition MPs in Rajya Sabha, including TMC leader Derek O'Brien and Sanjay Singh of AAP, were on Monday suspended for the remainder of the Monsoon session of Parliament for their "unruly behaviour".
Claiming that "every Bihari was hurt" to see that Harivansh, who is also a JD(U) MP, was subjected to "undignified attack" by opposition leaders in the Upper House, Modi said those supporting middlemen are the ones opposing the farm bills, as they do not care about farmers' welfare. He also said that the new legislation will allow farmers to sell their produce outside of APMC-regulated mandis, and rid them of middlemen interference.
"Bihar had become the first state to repeal the APMC Act in the year 2006. Back then, the RJD had opposed the move then in the Assembly. The RJD is an anti-farmer partyPeople will give them a befitting reply in the upcoming assembly polls," the deputy CM claimed. Hailing the farm bills as "revolutionary", he said farmers won't be cheated anymore once they are enacted.
"Big companies can directly buy farmers' produce at a fixed price, as per an agreement signed between them. Farmers cant be cheated by the company as they will be protected by the agreement and if there is any grievance, it can be redressed at Sub-Divisional officer (SDO)," he added.
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