<span style="color: #222222;">The Rajya Sabha has taken up discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address today with the ruling BJP urging the opposition not to make the farmers agitation into another Shaheen Bagh.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The House witnessed a brief adjournment when AAP members created uproar by trooping into the well forcing Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu to name some of them. Three members belonging to Aam Aadmi Party were later marshalled out of the House for the remaining part of the day. On the demand made by members of various parties, the House earlier decided to increase the time of the debate on the Motion of Thanks by five hours to 15 hours now.<br />''</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The House also dispensed with the Question Hour and the Private Members business to enable more time for the debate.<br />''</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Initiating the debate, Bhubaneswar Kalita of BJP asserted that the new farm laws were passed after extensive deliberations in Parliament and urged the opposition parties not to make the farmers' agitation another Shaheen Bagh. He said the doors are always open for farmers to resolve the issue amicably.<br />''</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Mr. Kalita said the government respected farmers and it has given new rights to them through the new farm laws and none of their rights or facilities is taken away.<br />'' <br />'' <br />'' </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Attacking the opposition for trying to disrupt the proceedings, Kalita reminded them that the three farm laws have been passed by both the Houses of Parliament after thorough deliberations.<br />'' <br />''The benefits of the three important farm laws have started reaching more than 10 crore people and small farmers, he claimed.<br />''  </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Asserting that there has been no reduction in the rights and facilities of the farmers, Mr Kalita said through these agriculture reforms, the government has given new rights to farmers.<br />''  </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The motion was seconded by another BJP member Vijay Pal Singh Tomar. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present in the House when the debate began. <br />''  </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The opposition members moved as many as 118 amendments to the Motion of Thanks to the President's address.<br />''  </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Mr. Kalita said the BJP has utmost respect for farmers and the Agriculture minister and Railways Minister have been holding discussions with the farmers.<br />''  </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Mr. Kalita said the doors are always open for the farmers for discussion so that this issue of farm laws can be resolved amicably. Stating that the government is ready to discuss all issues concerning it, he pleaded with the farmers not to make it another Shaheen Bagh.<br />''  </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Shaheen Bagh in the national capital was the epicentre of the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).<br />''<br />'' The BJP member from Assam cited the example of the Citizenship Amendment Bill which was passed by Parliament after the BJP returned to power with a decisive majority.  <br />''<br />''He said now they have objections and wanted to organise another Shaheen Bagh. The anti-CAA parties in Assam are forming new parties and the drubbing Congress got in 2019 Lok Sabha elections by supporting CAA, will be repeated now for the anti-CAA parties and they will lose in 2021 elections in Assam, Mr. Kalita said.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">He said the BJP alliance will win and return to power in Assam, as he lauded the prime minister for his numerous visits to the state to resolve the issues of Northeast Region.<br />''  </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Mr. Kalita said the GST collection was picking up as the economy was on the path of recovery due to efforts taken by the government.<br />''  </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Vijay Pal Singh Tomar, also of BJP, said the farm laws were passed after extensive deliberations, noting that there have been 12 expert committees in the past two decades on farm reforms.  He hit out at those criticising the farm laws, saying they are spreading mis-information. The new laws will help small farmers and the agricultural sector, he said.  He also drew a comparison between the agriculture budgets during the UPA tenure and now. <br />''  </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Small and marginal farmers who constitute 86 per cent will benefit from new laws, he said.<br />''  <br />''Mr. Tomar said middlemen were eating into the profits of farmers and new laws were intended to benefit the farmers. He pitched for diversification of agriculture and lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP government for recognising industrious farmers and conferring awards like Padmashri on them.<br />''  </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">On farm laws, he said some people were creating confusion that farmers will not get MSP whereas during the BJP regime it has risen sharply.<br />''  </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Earlier, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said consensus has been arrived that more time should be given for discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President.<br />''  </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Chairman Venkaiah Naidu warned some MPs against recording the proceedings of the House on mobile phones. He said such unauthorised recordings and its circulation on social media may be a breach of Parliamentary privilege and contempt of the House.<br />''  </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Leader of Opposition and Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad asked the government to withdraw the three farm bills without making it a prestige issue. He said disrespect to the national flag cannot be tolerated. He condemned violence at the Red Fort on Republic Day during the farmers' tractor parade. He suggested that the Prime Minister should himself make the announcement on the repeal of the bills.<br />''  </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Mr. Azad also made a case for the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir and holding assembly elections there. He demanded bringing a bill in this regard.<br />''  </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">He said people of the area were not happy and development work had come to halt, ever since the erstwhile state was bifurcated into the union territories of Ladakh, and Jammu and Kashmir after abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.<br />''  </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Urging the government to withdraw the three bills, Mr. Azad said, adding that the government should set up a committee to find out the whereabouts of people who have gone missing during the farmers' protest. He cited several examples when the governments have given in to the demands of farmers.<br />''  </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Referring to the violence that broke out in Delhi during farmers tractor rally on January 26, the Congress leader said the entire opposition condemns the incident as it is against democracy.<br />''  </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Disrespect to the national flag cannot be tolerated, he said while demanding the strictest of actions against the culprits.<br />''  </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The Congress leader said there was no point in confronting the farmers and the government should instead focus on other important issues, including the revival of the economy.<br />''  </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Mr. Azad also raised the issue of registration of cases under stringent provisions against certain media persons and also his party colleague Shashi Tharoor and some journalists.<br />''  </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Tiruchi Siva of DMK sought assurance from the government and the Prime Minister on the repeal of the three contentious farm laws against which several farmer unions have been protesting on various borders of Delhi.<br />''  </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Bhupender Yadav of BJP said that the statement of Mr. Siva is incorrect and it should be d from the records.<br />''  </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Earlier, during zero hour, Digvijaya Singh of the Congress said FIRs had been filed against politicians, journalists and civil society activists under various sections in the past few days.<br />''  </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">A number of MPs from Tamil Nadu also raised the issue of Tamil fishermen being held by Sri Lankan authorities.<br />''  </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Responding to this, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said India has taken up the issue with Sri Lanka in the strongest terms on the killing of Tamil Nadu fishermen in the island nation, and has made it very clear that such incidents are unacceptable.<br />''  </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">A BJP member raised the recent spate of attacks on Hindu temples in Andhra Pradesh in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday and demanded that the Union Home Ministry seek a report from the state.<br />''  </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Raising the issue through a zero-hour mention, GVL Narasimha Rao of the BJP said more than 140 incidents of attacks on Hindu temples have taken place in Andhra Pradesh.<br />''  </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Fauzia Khan of the NCP demanded recruiting more officers through the UPSC Civil Services and Grade A exams so as to lessen the burden on the bureaucracy and bring more accountability and transparency.</span><br />''  

Rajya Sabha today took up discussion on the motion of thanks to Presidential address to joint sitting of Parliament. Moving the Motion, Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda said, NDA government had inherited political paralysis and economic stagnation. But with the implementation of a slew of pragmatic decisions, the economy has gained in a short span of time. <br/><br/>He said, the policy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is minimum government and maximum governance. Nadda said, Presidential address to Parliament on 23 February, reflected the overall picture of achievements of NDA government. M.J. Akbar of the BJP seconded the motion. The discussion is continuing.