Suspended Rajya Sabha MPs end sit-in after Opposition announces House boycott

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farm sector Bills after the Opposition decided to boycott Rajya Sabha proceedings till the action against them was revoked.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

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The eight MPs -- Trinamool Congress floor leader Derek O'Brien, AAP Parliamentary Party leader Sanjay Singh, CPI(M) floor leader Elamaram Kareem, Trinamool's 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 the Gandhi Statue in Parliament House.

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.”

Earlier in the morning, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, 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.

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

Kareem told DH that Harivansh's move to meet them was a "cosmetic" measure taken by him for 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's 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 left the Rajya Sabha after Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad announced the boycott.