Rajya Sabha adjourned sine die, Lok Sabha likely to follow

File image

The Rajya Sabha was adjourned sine die on Wednesday, eight days before the Monsoon Session was scheduled to end. The Lok Sabha, that resumes at 6 pm today, is also expected to be adjourned sine die.

The stormy session, that began on September 14, was cut short in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and witnessed unruly scenes during the passage of three controversial farm bills, followed by a boycott of the proceedings by the Opposition.

In its nearly four-hour-long last sitting on Wednesday, the tenth day of the Session, the Upper House passed seven bills, including three key labour reforms legislations, the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2020 and the Jammu and Kashmir Official Language Bill, 2020, amid Opposition boycott. Likewise on Tuesday, the House passed seven bills while the Opposition parties were boycotting the proceedings.

“We are concluding the 252nd session of the Rajya Sabha today,” Chairperson M Venkaiah Naidu said, before announcing that the House stands adjourned sine die.

Earlier in the day, Union Minister of State  (MoS) for Parliamentary Affairs, V Muraleedharan, told the Upper House that the government had recommended adjournment of the Rajya Sabha sine die.

The Opposition parties that boycotted the Rajya Sabha session, are, in the meantime, meeting President Ram Nath Kovind later in the day over the contentious farm bills. The three bills -- the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 — passed by both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will now go to the President for final approval before becoming law. The Opposition has accused the government of passing all three bills without following due procedure.

The Rajya Sabha witnessed unruly scenes on September 20 after Opposition MPs alleged that the due process of allowing a detailed discussion on the farm bills was not followed in the House. A ruckus erupted soon after deputy chairman Harivansh put the bills to vote amid demands of detailed discussion from the Opposition members who also wanted the bills to be scrutinised by a select committee of the Parliament.

Next day, eight Opposition MPs were suspended for a week. The suspension followed adjournment of Rajya Sabha and an overnight protest by the MPs. The MPs even snubbed an offer of tea from the deputy chairman.

On Tuesday, the Opposition decided to boycott the remaining session of the Upper House pending three demands, including revoking the suspension of the MPs. Later, the Opposition boycotted the Lok Sabha proceedings for the day as well.

The government is also expected to recommend sine die adjournment of the Lok Sabha session.

As many as 30 members of both Houses, including ministers Nitin Gadkari and Prahlad Patel had tested positive for COVID-19. Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the session for a few minutes on the first day and on Rajya Sabha’s last sitting today, while Home Minister Amit Shah, who tested positive for the virus before the session,  has not attended any session so far.

Congress MPs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, who are back from an overseas trip, could not attend any session either, while many opposition MPs, including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, sought leave from the Rajya Sabha proceedings on health grounds.