
Amid protests farm bills to be taken up in Rajya Sabha today
New Delhi/IBNS: Three agriculture-related bills, which have been already passed in the Lok Sabha amid farmers' protests and opposition walk-outs, will be taken up in the Rajya Sabha on Sunday.
The three bills are - the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill; the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill.
Before the bills could be taken up in Lok Sabha, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s long-time ally Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal resigned from the Narendra Modi cabinet.
Badal's Akali Dal last Thursday faced protests from farmers over the party's initial support to ally BJP regarding these bills.
Her husband and party chief Sukhbir Badal had said the Akalis will continue to support the Modi government from outside but oppose "anti-farmer policies".
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is expected to have around 105 votes in the Upper House which has a present strength of 243.
The majority mark in the Rajya Sabha is set at 122.