NE NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, SEPT 21
The sit-in protest by eight suspended MPs at Parliament premises that carried on late into the night on Monday showed no signs of ending with senior Opposition leaders coming in hordes to support them, including NC leader Faroukh Abdullah, JD(S)’ Deve Gowda, Samajwadi Party’s Jaya Bachchan, Congress’ Ahmed Patel and NCP’s Praful Patel.
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh sat with the protesting parliamentarians for almost four hours, one of the suspended MPs said as they sang patriotic songs, surrounded by placards hanging on strings with slogans in support of farmers.
One of the main concerns for the MPs was the health of two senior leaders who are diabetic – Congress’ Ripun Boren and CPIM’s Elamaram Kareem, who are both over 65 years of age.
“We are making sure that we are all hydrated and we have enough water,” TMC MP Derek O’Brien said.
“Refreshments are also coming in from the homes of Opposition MPs at regular intervals to ensure that their sugar levels don’t drop. It’s a wonderful team effort and we are not going to stop,” another senior leader said.
An ambulance is also on standby for emergency use in case any of the protestors fall ill.
The MPs will be able to use the Rajya Sabha toilets as long as the Lok Sabha proceedings are underway, but after that, they will have to use the toilets at the reception, another MP said.
The protesting MPs are carrying not just their beddings with pillows and blankets but mosquito repellents as well to shield themselves from the vectors.
“We would like the government to know that this is an indefinite protest,” O’Brien said.
AAP’s Sanjay Singh said, “We will continue protesting against the farmer bills until the Modi government provides a rationale behind passing these bills without having the required votes”.
Earlier in the day, the government moved a motion seeking the suspension of Derek O’Brien (TMC), Sanjay Singh (AAP), Rajeev Satav (Congress), KK Ragesh (CPI-M), Syed Nazir Hussain (Congress), Ripun Boren (Congress), Dola Sen (TMC) and Elamaram Kareem (CPI-M).
The motion was adopted by voice vote amid protests.
During the day, the protests saw MPs from various parties like Congress, CPI(M), Shiv Sena, JDS, TMC, CPI, and the Samajwadi Party joining in. In the evening, many Lok Sabha MPs trickled in to show their support to the suspended MPs who were sitting in protest.
Other leaders who came by include Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut, NCP’s Supriya Sule, DMK’s Kanimozhi and Tiruchi Siva, who carried hot idlis for the protestors from his residence.
Monday was Congress MP Rajeev Satav’s birthday and his wife and daughter came especially to Delhi to celebrate it. However, he was at the protest site since morning.
The protest by the MPs is being held at a time when around 30 parliamentarians have tested positive for the coronavirus disease.
BJP plans mega exercise to reach out to farmers to clear misgivings about farm bills
The BJP is planning a mega exercise to reach out to farmers to counter the Opposition’s narrative on farm bills and attempts to create misgivings on the MSP issue, sources said on Monday.
Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has held a series of meetings with MPs and Union Ministers from Punjab and Haryana and surrounding states, and virtual interactions with state agricultural ministers of all BJP-led NDA ruled states where he briefed them about the merits of the two bills, the sources said.
Harsimrat Kaur Badal, a leader of the BJP’s oldest ally Shiromani Akali Dal, had resigned from Union Cabinet in protest against the bills.
Sources said Tomar also reached out to the office-bearers of BJP’s ideological parent RSS as well as the Bhartiya Kisan Sangh and Swadesi Jagaran Manch. Both the RSS affiliates have reservations about the bills and came out in the open with their objections.
Members of Parliament from Haryana, Punjab, and neighbouring states have been given talking points to address their constituents, especially farmers, and clear any misgiving created by the Opposition about the MSP in the context of these bills, the sources said. The Opposition has alleged that the government intends to do away with the safety net of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and the mandi system, a charge denied by the government which has accused these parties of misleading farmers.
The BJP has asked all state units of its Kisan Morcha, MPs, and ministers in Union and state governments to categorically convey to farmers and all other state holders in the agriculture sector that the mechanism of minimum support price will be intact even after the implementation of these two bills, they said.
Tomar has also briefed the spokespersons of the party’s national team and state units about the salient features of these two bills and also on the MSP mechanism.
