Suspended MPs end sit-in protest in Parliament, leaders say other protests to continue

Eight suspended MPs on Tuesday ended their unprecedented sit-in protest in Parliament House against two contentious farm sector Bills after the Opposition announced to boycott Rajya Sabha proceedings till the action against them is revoked.

The MPs said while the indefinite sit-in protest near the Gandhi Statue in Parliament House ended, the parties would continue other modes of protest against the contentious bills. In solidarity with the protesters, NCP chief Sharad Pawar also undertook a day-long fast in Mumbai.

The eight MPs -- Trinamool Congress floor leader Derek O'Brien, AAP Parliamentary Party leader Sanjay Singh, CPI(M) floor leader Elamaram Kareem, Trinamool Dola Sen, CPI(M) 's K K Ragesh and Congress' Rajeev Satav, Ripun Bora and Syed Nasir Hussain -- spent the night at the protest site near Gandhi Statue in Parliament House.

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Hussain said the sit-in protest has ended following the decision to boycott the session but other protests would continue. Echoing Hussain, Sen said, “After many Opposition parties have boycotted the remainder of the Monsoon Session of Rajya Sabha, the dharna at Gandhi statue has ended. Now we will take our fight for the rights of the farmers to every town and village in the country.”

Also read — Suspended Rajya Sabha MPs hold indefinite protest in Parliament

Earlier in the morning, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh Singh, whom the Opposition accused of not allowing voting during the Bills, visited the protesters and served the tea, which his opponents said was nothing but drama.

The leaders said Harivansh came with a posse of news cameras and one of the MPs told him to visit them without cameras. Another MP told him that it was a nice gesture to bring tea but he was still in the wrong.

AAP's Singh said they were protesting against the "black laws" against farmers and that they told the Deputy Chairman that he did not allow voting on the bills. This is not personal and we will continue our fight, he said.

Also Read | Derek O'Brien, 7 other Rajya Sabha MPs suspended for remainder of Monsoon Session over uproar on Farm Bills

“The Bills were passed without voting knowing that the BJP was in minority and you are also responsible for it. Farmers have been cheated. We kept asking for proper voting and we were ignored completely. This is not the time to make friends but to fight for the rights of farmers, and we sat here the whole night to protest against the anti-farmer Bills," he added.

Kareem told DH that Harivansh meeting them was a "cosmetic" measure taken by him for the benefit of the camera. Harivansh did not speak about revocation of suspension, he said.

Ragesh, another suspended MP, said Harivansh told them that his visit was in personal capacity and not as the Deputy Chairman. "It is a drama. It is clear from the fact that the Prime Minister tweet describing the 'magnanimity of Harivansh came soon after the visit," he said.

"You can suspend me. You cannot silence me," O'Brien said.

Congress, Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, DMK, TRS, RJD, JD(S) and other smaller parties like Muslim League and Kerala Congress (Mani) joined the boycott. The MPs who left the Rajya Sabha after Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad's boycott announcement.