Voting on Farm Bills would have made things easier for government

The passing of two contentious farm sector Bills without a voting following pandemonium in Rajya Sabha on Sunday has triggered a controversy amid accusations that the government panicked at the last minute on whether they could muster the numbers leading to ignoring the Opposition's demand.

However, if one goes by the attendance sheet of MPs in Rajya Sabha, the government could have got the Bills passed by a margin of 5-15 votes. Though it is not necessary that all MPs who have signed the register will vote, MPs who do not sign the register can also attend the proceedings and vote.

Read: Parliament passes two contentious Farm Bills amidst chaos and drama in Rajya Sabha

Opposition believes that the game would have been too close if BJD, BSP and AIADMK, whose at least 18 MPs were present in Parliament on Sunday, decide to vote in favour of the motion to send the Bills to Select Committees and not walk-out, in case the voting was allowed.

On previous occasions, these parties had walked out and not participated in voting on Bills though they were opposed to it. Both the BJD and AIADMK had taken a position against the Bill.

The BJP could have got 97 votes going by the attendance sheet while the Opposition could have mustered the support of 72 to 91 MPs, depending on the stand taken by BJD, BSP and AIADMK, which keep a distance from the anti-BJP camp.

However, Union Law Minister Ravishankar Prasad claimed that the ruling combine would have got 110 votes as against Opposition's 72 in case of a voting. However, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, "BJP did not have the numbers, that is why they suspended MPs from various parties to pass anti-farmer bills and anti-labour bills."

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While the Opposition accused the Deputy Chairman Harivansh of rushing through the Bill, BJP leaders rubbish it saying that the Chair could not have held voting when the MPs demanding a division of votes were unwilling to return to their seats.

In their now rejected no-confidence motion against Harivansh, they had accused him of not even attempting a consensus to resolve the impasse and go ahead with voting.

"The whole world saw that the Chair was following the order of the government and not the other way around. The panic set in the Treasury Benches after the BJD and TRS asked the anti-farmer Bills to be sent to the Select Committee," Congress Chief Whip Jairam Ramesh said during a war of words with senior BJP MP Bhupender Yadav on Twitter.

According to the attendance sheet, around 70 BJP MPs, excluding Ministers, were present in Parliament. Its ally JD(U) had at least two of its MPs present while YSR Congress, which supported the Bill, had five MPs present in Parliament. The BJP was also sure about support of at least four MPs from smaller parties and two nominated MPs.

Besides this, the government could also count on 12 ministers, including ally Ramdas Athawale, and Deputy Chairman Harivansh, who are exempted from signing the register, taking its support base to 97 votes.

On the other side, the Congress-led Opposition had 75 MPs in Parliament. They were also counting on the support of BJD's 8, BSP's 4 and AIADMK's 4 MPs. This would have taken their votes to 91, if the three otherwise BJP-friendly parties did not walk out without participating in the voting.

Also Read: Opposition files no-confidence motion against RS Dy Chairman Harivansh, sits on dharna inside House

Congress had 30 MPs, including Pratap Singh Bajwa who did not sign the register but was present. Seven MPs from Samajwadi Party, four each from CPI(M), Trinamool Congress, TRS, DMK and RJD and three each from AAP, Akali Dal and NCP, who had registered their presence, were also against the Bill. Several Opposition MPs like former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram as well as a number of Trinamool MPs among others have skipped the Monsoon Session owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.

While the debate on the two Bills were progressing in the Upper House, a senior Opposition leader had told DH that “they (government) have the numbers”. The same leader said on Monday, “it seems they were not sure about the numbers. They could have won even if there was voting but it might have been close.”

Opposition floor managers said that coordination of MPs sitting in two Chambers of Parliament could have been difficult and this might have led to panic in the ruling side. The Opposition was also jittery as some of their members were not present in Parliament when the debate on the Bill was nearing its end.

They also said that the absence of senior Ministers who could have guided the floor managers of the ruling side also had an impact. However, the BJP leaders put the blame on the Opposition, saying their unruly behaviour left them with no option for the Chair but to go ahead with passing the Bill through a voice vote.