A unity in opposition parties is seen in the house today as the Congress-led opposition tries to cobble together the numbers to shoot down the three pieces of legislation.
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The Union Agriculture Minister said, "The two Bills are historic & will bring a change in the lives of the farmers. The farmers will be able to freely trade their produce anywhere in the country. I want to assure the farmers that these Bills are not related to Minimum Support Price."
Congress MP Pratap Singh Bajwa said," the party opposes the ill-conceived and ill-timed Bills. Congress rejects these bills. We will not sign on this death warrant of farmers."
The numbers, however, appear to be in favour of the ruling dispensation to get these bills passed from Rajya Sabha, while the Lower House has already cleared them despite a key NDA member, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), opposing them.
The Akalis, for whom farmers are a core constituency, withdrew Harsimrat Badal Kaur - their sole representative in the Union Cabinet - in protest over "anti-farmer" bills and are reviewing ties with the BJP-led NDA.
However, BJP leaders have expressed confidence that they will get the support of over 130 members, including nine of the AIADMK and six of the YSR Congress, both of whom are not part of the ruling alliance if a division of votes is sought on these bills.
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Another regional party, Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) was also being wooed by the BJP, but its chief and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao yesterday asked his party MPs to vote against these bills, alleging this would cause great injustice to farmers in the country.
The current absolute strength of the Upper House is 243 (two seats are vacant), with the majority mark set at 122. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is expected to have around 105 votes, while the opposition should have around 100. Around 32 MPs from various parties - such as the YSR Congress, the BJD, and the TRS - are aligned to the BJP, having previously lent them issue-based support.
The Congress-led opposition, on the other hand - which includes 13 Trinamool Congress MPs and seven from the DMK - will be on the back foot going into today's face-off. The Congress itself has 40 seats and can count on a few others - such as the BSP (four seats), the Samajwadi Party (eight seats), and Delhi's ruling AAP (three seats).