Govt to table farm repeal bill today in parliament as winter session begins

The government is scheduled to bring in new bill to repeal the three contentious farm laws on the first day of the winter session of the Parliament starting today.

As per reports, the bill will be introduced by the Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar. The Bill will repeal three contentious farm Bills — the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020, to amend the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.

36 legislative Bills and one Finance Bill are expected to be passed during the 19 sittings of the 25-day Winter Session of parliament.

The ruling BJP and the opposition Congress have issued whips to their MPs to be present on the day.

The session is also set for a stormy start with the opposition preparing to question the government on issues including the Pegasus row and price rise.

The other bills to be passed in the session include the crucial Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy (Second Amendment) Bill, 2021, and the Electricity (Amendment) Bill.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday skipped the all-party meeting. Denying it was a break in tradition, Parliamentary Affairs minister Pralhad Joshi said, "There was no tradition of Prime Minister attending the all-party meeting. It was started by Modi ji".

Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress's leader in the Rajya Sabha, said they were expecting the Prime Minister to attend. "We wanted to ask more about the farm laws as there are some apprehensions that these three laws may again come in some other form," he said.

On Sunday, 31 parties attended the meeting, but the Aam Aadmi Party walked out in the middle of it. Sanjay Singh, who was representing the party, said he was not allowed to speak.

Mr Joshi said the government is always ready to discuss any issue on the floor of the House, as permitted under Rules of Procedure. Mr Joshi also requested all parties for co-operation for the smooth functioning of the House.

The National People's Party's Agatha Sangma, who is the Lok Sabha MP from Meghalaya, requested the government to repeal Citizenship Amendment Act in the upcoming session of Parliament.

The Trinamool Congress -- expanding rapidly at the cost of the Congress -- on Sunday assured that it will remain a part of the united opposition, allaying concerns of rift ahead of the winter session.