PARLIAMENT PASSES BILL TO REPEAL THREE FARM LAWS

The Parliament passed the bill to repeal the three farm laws via voice vote on Monday, the first day of the winter session, even as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that it is unfortunate that the laws were repealed without discussion.

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar placed the Farm Laws Repeal Bill 2021 in Lok Sabha. Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Choudhury demanded a discussion on the bill, but was disallowed by Speaker Om Birla. A single bill was introduced to repeal the three laws—the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance, Farm Services Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

The bill was passed via voice vote amid sloganeering by opposition MPs. Tomar placed the bill in the Raya Sabha shortly after the House reconvened at 2pm. Before the motion was adopted for the passage of the bill, Deputy Chairman Harivansh allowed Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge to speak for two minutes. Kharge said that the government had taken back the three farm laws in view of the forthcoming elections in five states after reviewing the results of the recent bypolls.

Agriculture Minister Tomar then moved the motion and said that the three laws were brought for the benefit of farmers. He expressed regret that the government could not convince the agitating farmers about the benefits of the laws. He said as both the government and the opposition parties are for repeal of the laws, so there was no need for any discussion on the farm repeal bill.

Like in the Lower House, the Rajya Sabha too passed the bill via voice vote and without discussion. Some Congress and TMC members came down to the well to protest the passage of the bill without debate. Earlier in the day, Congress MPs led by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi staged a protest in front of the Gandhi statue within the Parliament premises, demanding the three laws be repealed.

After the bill to repeal the three farm laws was passed in both the Houses of the Parliament, Rahul Gandhi said that it is unfortunate that the laws were repealed without a discussion. Addressing a press conference here, the Wayanad MP said that the upcoming state electionsmust have also played on the Centre’s mind while taking the decision to withdraw these laws. “Earlier, we had said that the government will have to withdraw the farm laws, and today these laws were repealed. It is unfortunate that the farm laws were repealed without discussion. This government is scared of holding a discussion,” said the Congress MP.

Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait welcomed the passage of the bill in the Lok Sabha and said: “This is a tribute to all 750 farmers who lost their lives during the agitation. The protest will continue as other issues including MSP are still pending.”