MSP legal guarantee issue rocks Rajya Sabha; Cong-led Oppn stages protest

Opposition parties led by the Congress on Friday created a ruckus and obstructed proceedings in the Rajya Sabha, as they were not satisfied with Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's reply on providing a legal guarantee on minimum support price (MSP) to farmers. The trouble began during Question Hour when Chouhan listed steps taken by the government for the welfare of farmers and spoke about the committee looking into strengthening the MSP system but stopped short of talking about a legal guarantee for crop support prices. Following the minister's remark, Congress MPs, including Randeep Surjewala and Jairam Ramesh, protested, saying that Chouhan's reply was incomplete. Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar tried to diffuse the situation, saying the minister had given a detailed reply and if the members were not satisfied, they should use available avenues to seek answers. Dhankhar repeatedly asked the members to allow the proceedings to continue and also threatened to name .