Parliament passes bill to repeal farm laws

New Delhi: The repeal of the three farm laws, against which the farmers have been protesting at the Delhi border for a year, just took a few minutes in Parliament on Monday. Passed by the Lok Sabha in the morning, the bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha in the afternoon just minutes after resuming post-lunch.

As the Opposition demanded a discussion, trying to corner the BJP-led government, which is already on the backfoot by backpedalling on the bills, the government said since the Opposition has been demanding the repeal of laws and the government is now ready for it, a discussion is not needed.

Deputy Chairman Harivansh moved immediately on the suggestion and took up the Farm Laws Repeal Bill 2021 to be passed through a voice vote. The Opposition protested but the protests were ignored, and the bill was passed. Harivansh adjourned the House for 30 minutes immediately after it.

Harivansh also did not allow Leader of Opposition in the House Mallikarjun Kharge to speak before Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar could move the motion to pass the bill, to which certain Union Ministers objected.

However, later Kharge was allowed to speak for a few minutes.

Kharge said that everyone 'welcomes' the repeal of the bill, as nobody is against it. But, he said, it took the government a year and three months to take the three 'black bills' back.

Kharge accused the government of repealing it only due to electoral compulsions. He said the BJP was impacted in the recently-held by-elections in several states "and then there are elections in five states", and the government felt that it would have an impact in the upcoming elections too. Just as Kharge mentioned that over 700 people had died during the protests, his speech was cut short and Harivansh said that he had initially only allowed him to speak for a couple of minutes, but he had spoken longer. Even as Kharge continued to speak, Tomar was asked to move the motion to pass the bill.

Tomar, echoing Prime Minister Modi's announcement on November 19, said the "government had brought the three bills for the betterment of the farmers" but, he said, "we are sad, that sometimes even after trying, and even after Congress had mentioned it in their manifesto, kept a hypocritical attitude towards it".

"We were unable to convince the farmers during our discussions. Thus, the Prime Minister demonstrated historical magnanimity," and announced the repeal of the laws on Guru Nanak Dev's Jayanti. "This shows the unity in the Prime Minister's words and actions."