Opposition parties boycott Rajya Sabha BAC meeting
Sep 22, 2020
New Delhi [India], September 22 : Opposition parties on Tuesday boycotted the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting of Rajya Sabha. The meeting was chaired by Deputy Chairman Harivansh.
Union Ministers Pralhad Joshi, Thawar Chand Gehlot, BJP MPs Bhupendra Yadav, Bhubaneswar Kalita and Shiv Pratap Shukla, JD-U's RCP Singh and Biju Janata Dal's Prasanna Acharya were present in the meeting.
Trinamool Congress leaders said five opposition MPs - Derek O'Brien, Ram Gopal Yadav, Anand Sharma, Jairam Ramesh and Manoj Kumar Jha - "boycotted" the meeting.
A leader who attended the BAC meeting said that the Rajya Sabha is likely to function beyond its allotted time tomorrow as there are few MPs who would be retiring in the inter-session period.
One hour has been allocated for MPs who are going to retire in November for their farewell speeches, sources said.
They said the upper House may be adjourned sine die tomorrow if the government's legislative agenda gets through but a final decision has not been taken yet.
Congress and members of some other opposition parties had earlier in the day boycotted the proceedings of Rajya Sabha after the speech of Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad who said that government bills were not being sent for parliament scrutiny by standing committees.
The Rajya Sabha had witnessed unruly scenes on Sunday as Opposition members stormed the well of the House and came near the podium, where Deputy Chairman Harivansh was seated, to protest against the Farmer's Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020.
Eight opposition MPs were suspended by the Rajya Sabha Chairman on Monday over the ruckus and the unruly scenes in the Upper House on Sunday. While the opposition members have expressed reservations over the manner in which the agriculture bills were passed, the government and BJP leaders have accused them of not following the directions of the chair.
