RS passes 3 bills as oppn harps on Pegasus, farm laws & fuel hike

IANS

New Delhi, 05 Aug 2021: The upper house of the parliament passed three bills on Thursday amid protest by the opposition members who have been demanding discussion on the Pegasus snooping allegations, farm laws and rise in fuel price.

 

Amid din the government managed to pass three bills between brief adjournments — The Constitution (Scheduled Tribe) Order (Amendment) Bill, The Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Bill, The Essential defence services bill, 2021.

 

The opposition MPs in between the protests spoke on the bills but kept raising the issues of snooping, farm laws and fuel price hike.

 

The Chair however did not allow this citing rules that only subject issue should be spoken which was protested by the opposition members.

 

TMC MP Sukhendu Shekhar Roy cited constitution on Freedom of speech but the opposition got support from Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) MP K. Keshav Roy who said nobody can dictate the speech and the Chair can only regulate the House.

 

The Deputy Chairman citing rules of the house said only person speaking on subjects should be permitted.

 

Earlier in the house, Leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday blamed the Centre for the stalemate and said that the opposition is ready for discussion on the Pegasus snooping issue.

 

“Start the discussion right now, we are ready,” he said.

 

He said that he had got a call from Defence Minister Rajnath Singh that he will resolve the issue once back from abroad, but no member of the opposition has got any official invite for any meeting so far.

 

In response to Kharge’s charge, the Defence Minister said that he had not given any assurance and had only said that the House should hold proper discussion and the pandemonium should stop.

 

Kharge charged the government with not letting the discussion to happen on Pegasus and other issues raised by the opposition. He accused the government of trying to create an impression in the media that it is the opposition which is not willing to run the Parliament, but the government is pushing all the Bills.