Farm bills: Derek O'Brien, Sanjay Singh, 6 other Rajya Sabha MPs suspended, Opposition hits back

The eight MPs, who have been suspended by Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu for a week, were Trinamool Congress (TMC)'s Derek O'Brien and Dola Sen, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)'s Sanjay Singh, Congress' Rajeev Satav, Syed Nasir Hussain and Ripun Borah and CPI-M's KK Ragesh and Elamaram Kareem.

Sanjay Singh outside Parliament (Image Credit: UNI)

O'Brien, the floor leader of TMC, was seen tearing the bills in front of the chair on Sunday, amid the ruckus in the upper house.

Hitting back at the Centre, West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo, Mamata Banerjee, tweeted, "Suspension of the 8 MPs who fought to protect farmers' interests is unfortunate and reflective of this autocratic government's mindset that doesn’t respect democratic norms and principles. We won't bow down and we'll fight this fascist government in Parliament and on the streets."

Congress parliamentarian Rahul Gandhi tweeted, "’Muting Of Democratic India’ continues: by initially silencing and later, suspending MPs in the Parliament and turning a blind eye to farmers’ concerns on the black agriculture laws. This ‘omniscient’ government's endless arrogance has brought economic disaster for the entire country."

Not willing to leave the house, Singh said, "We have been suspended for opposing the anti-farmers bill passed by the BJP government. We are here on strike. We will keep on sitting here until the BJP government tells why it has passed the bill without voting."

Protesting against the suspension, Kareem said, "Suspension won't silence us. We will stand with farmers in their fight. Dy.Chairman throttled Parliamentary Procedures yesterday. Suspension of MPs exposed the cowardly face of BJP. People will see through the attempt to divert attention from their undemocratic actions."

The two farm bills, which has created a flashpoint between the BJP and the Opposition, was passed with voice votes on Sunday while the rival MPs claim the ruling dispensation did not have the required number in the Rajya Sabha.

Amid the ruckus over the bill, the audio of Rajya Sabha was also muted for a few minutes on Sunday.