Farm Bills Row: 8 Suspended Rajya Sabha MPs Spend Night Outside Parliament In Protest, Refuse Deputy Chairman’s Tea; PM Modi Backs Harivansh Narain Singh

Eight opposition members of the Rajya Sabha were suspended on September 21 for the rest of the session over the chaos in the House during passing of the farm bills on September 20. The suspended MPs spent the night on the lawns of the parliament complex and declared that they were on an indefinite protest. They had on September 21 refused to leave the Rajya Sabha, which was adjourned five times. When the members, including Trinamool Congress's Derek O'Brien, Aam Aadmi Party's Sanjay Singh, Congress's Rajeev Satav and CPM's KK Ragesh, did leave the Rajya Sabha, they moved their protest to the parliament lawns, near Mahatma Gandhi's statue. The suspended MPs spread out sheets and sat holding up placards that read - "We will fight for farmers" and "parliament assassinated". On the morning of September 22, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narain Singh walked over to them and offered them tea, but they rebuffed his "tea diplomacy", calling him "anti-farmer". Prime Minister Narendra Modi came out strongly in support of Harivansh. The opposition's protest is mainly against the Deputy Chairman & their no-confidence motion against him was rejected by Chairman Venkaiah Naidu. With pillows, blankets, two fans and mosquito repellants, the suspended members pulled off their first all-nighter. Opposition members accuse the Deputy Chairman of helping the government rush through the farm bills in the Rajya Sabha on September 20 without following democratic process. Harivansh had rejected their calls for sending the bills to a select committee for review or even to extend the discussion till September 21. The bills were passed with a voice vote after the Chair rejected opposition calls for physical voting and a division of votes.