Tea Diplomacy: PM Narendra Modi Lauds Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh For Serving Chai to Suspended MPs Who Protested Overnight at Parliament Lawn

New Delhi, September 22: Harivansh, the deputy chairperson of Rajya Sabha, on Tuesday morning met protesting MPs from the Opposition parties, who carried out an all-night sit-in on the lawns of Parliament in protest against the passage of two of the contentious farm bills. He offered tea to the MPs, who moved a no-confidence motion against him a day earlier. According to reports, they rebuffed his "tea diplomacy", and called him "anti-farmer".

Lauding him, PM Narendra Modi said, "To personally serve tea to those who attacked and insulted him a few days ago as well as those sitting on Dharna shows that Shri Harivansh Ji has been blessed with a humble mind and a big heart. It shows his greatness. I join the people of India in congratulating Harivansh Ji." MPs' Overnight Protest: Two Fans to Beat Humid Weather, Home-Cooked Food And Tea; Here's How Suspended Rajya Sabha MPs Including Sanjay Singh, Derek O' Brien Spent Night at Parliament Lawn.

Here's what PM Modi tweeted:

On Monday, a day after Rajya Sabha witnessed huge ruckus over two farm-related bills, Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on suspended eight members of the House for a week for "unruly behaviour" with the Chair. Derek O Brien, Sanjay Singh, Raju Satav, KK Ragesh, Ripun Bora, Dola Sen, Syed Nazir Hussain and Elamaran Karim were suspended.

The suspended MPs spent the night on the lawns of the parliament complex and declared that they were on an indefinite protest. They had yesterday refused to leave the Rajya Sabha, which was adjourned five times.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 22, 2020 09:45 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).