The Rajya Sabha on Friday was thrown into disarray as the government sidestepped a direct answer to a question regarding its position on the farmers' demand for a legal guarantee on minimum support price (MSP) for crops.

Ramjilal Suman of the Samajwadi Party enquired about the number of meetings held by the committee on MSP over the past two years and whether the government was considering introducing legislation to provide a legal guarantee for MSP.

In a written reply, agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said a committee had been constituted to suggest providing MSP to the farmers, granting greater autonomy to the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) that recommends MSP for 23 crops, strengthening the agricultural marketing system, topics of natural farming and crop diversification. In the last two years, the committee has held six meetings.

In the supplementary questions, Suman asked if the government would give a legal guarantee on MSP.

Chouhan said the Narendra Modi government has increased the MSP of crops regularly and the support price has more than doubled compared to what it was during the UPA era. He said the committee had not submitted its report, adding that the government would decide on the legal guarantee after it is done.

Congress members started protesting as the government did not give a concrete answer. Randeep Singh Surjewala said the government has to give a legal guarantee on the issue.

Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar disapproved of the conduct of Surjewala and other protesting members. He said disruptions and protests in the House amounted to injustice to the farmers. At one point, he named Surjewala and asked him to withdraw from the House. A member named by the Chairman amounts to suspension of the member for the remainder of the session. Dhankhar, however, did not stress on it and asked Surjewala to sit.

Chouhan went on to say that the Congress members were shedding crocodile tears. He said the government had increased procurement of pulses many times compared to what was done during the UPA tenure. The government has also decided to procure all the arhar, black moong and masoor dal produce this year.

The Congress later took to X to call it a "black day" for farmers.

“The sinister conspiratorial face of the Modi govt got exposed as the agriculture minister refused that they would never frame a law guaranteeing MSP to 72 crore farmers and farm labourers in India. Today, the conspiracy and design of the Modi government got exposed as the agriculture minister refused C2+50 per cent profit as MSP for the farmers of India,” said the post.

C2 is input costs, family labour, and the rent of the farmer's land.

“Modiji had promised 50 per cent profit, but the govt refused. The agriculture minister admits that all they are doing is politics by holding 35-40 meetings of the committee constituted at the instance of the agitating farmers in July 2022. The minister admits that in two years, the committee has done nothing, zero,” it added.