The Rajya Sabha on Sunday descended into chaos as the House passed two contentious agriculture Bills amid a prolonged outpouring of anger by the Opposition.
The two ordinances – Farmers’ and Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 and Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 – were passed by a voice vote and not a division of votes, even though the Congress, Trinamool Congress and other parties made a demand to the deputy chairperson.
The Rajya Sabha witnessed chaos as the bills were being passed: a section of opposition leaders tried to snatch documents from the Chairperson and even broke his microphone. Things came to a head when Deputy Chairperson Harivansh Narayan Singh did not consider the Opposition’s demand for a division of votes on a resolution to send the two bills to a…