Farmer Bills and Voice Vote: How Opposition Was Silenced by BJP NILANJAN MUKHOPADHYAY 22 Sep 2020, https://www.thequint.com/voices/opinion/farm-bills-parliament-harivansh-narayan-singh-opposition-protest-bjp#read-more#read-more
On this day, the government, with more than able compliance of recently re-elected Deputy Chairperson, Harivansh Narayan Singh, paradoxically a former-journalist, steamrollered through the Rajya Sabha, the two contentious agriculture related Bills, the Farmers' and Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 and Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020.
voice vote is listed in parliamentary rule books as one of the two processes by which the House reaches a decision that requires to be taken after debate or discussion. This power of choosing which of the two routes are appropriate, solely vests with the Chair.
Opposition parties were outraged at the Deputy Chairperson's choice despite the obviousness of robust sentiment in the House in favour of the Bill being referred to a Select Committee. This was amply evident as representatives of several parties like the Shiromani Akali Dal, part of the government till recently, alongside the Biju Janata Dal and the Telangana Rashtriya Samithi, which at times voted with the government, joined the chorus of opposition against the three farm Bills.
Instead of acquiescing to repeated Opposition demands for Division in the House, Harivansh announced passage of the two Bills by voice vote route despite the impossibility of discrerning between ‘Ayes’ and ‘Nos’.
The government quickly mounted a counter-offensive by getting Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to address a press conference while flanked by five cabinet colleagues.