Harivansh says anguished at the conduct of Opposition members, to observe fast

Expressing his deep anguish and pain at opposition members’ “humiliating” conduct towards him, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson Harivansh on Tuesday announced a 24-hour long fast, hoping that this may inspire a feeling of “self-purification” in them. In a letter to Rajya Sabha Chairperson M Venkaiah Naidu, Harivansh recounted the ruckus in the House on Sunday during the passage of farm bills and said members engaged in “violent” conduct in the name of democracy, tried to frighten the Chair and tore to shreds every norm and convention of the House.

Harivansh, who was in the Chair then, said paper missiles were thrown at him amid brazenly aggressive behaviour and raising of tasteless and unparliamentary slogans by members, a reference to several opposition MPs who created an uproar in the House during the passage of farm bills.

This sight of “disrobing of democracy” jolted his mind and heart and he could not sleep for the whole night, the Bihar MP wrote in the letter underscoring his agony and pain at the development.

Whatever happened in front of me on September 20 has caused unimaginable loss to the dignity of House and Chair, he said.

Noting that the birth anniversary of ‘rashtra kavi’ (national poet) Ramdhari Singh Dinkar falls on Wednesday, he said he will end his fast tomorrow while citing a few lines from one of his poems.

He added that he will continue to discharge his responsibility while on fast.

Eight Rajya Sabha MPs were suspended from the House on Monday for their “misconduct” during the passage of two farm bills on Sunday.

Some of them threw rule book, tore its page and climbed the secretary general’s table as they attacked Harivansh, who was in the Chair, for going ahead with the process of the bills’ passage.

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