Parliament disrupted as Opposition demands debate on SIR issue

Parliament proceedings on Tuesday were marred by a protest over Special Intensive Revision (SIR), with the Opposition demanding a debate on it even as the Government asserted that it was ready to discuss the matter but the Opposition cannot dictate the timeline.

While the Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day due to din, the Rajya Sabha saw a walk-out by the Opposition on the issue. After two adjournments earlier in the day, the Lok Sabha met again at 2 pm amid sloganeering by the Opposition members.

Dilip Saikia, who was presiding over the House, urged the Opposition to allow the House to function as the Government was willing to discuss the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in nine States and three Union territories.

He reminded the members that the SIR exercise has already been completed in Bihar and the results are evident.

The Central Excise (Amendment) Bill, 2025, was listed for consideration and passage in the Lok Sabha but could not be taken up due to disruption. Earlier during the Zero Hour, which went on for around 10 minutes, various papers and standing committees’ reports were laid on the table of the House.

Members of Congress and some other Opposition parties protested and shouted slogans against the SIR of electoral rolls, an issue on which they have been demanding an immediate discussion.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju told the protesting members that they should protect the decorum of the House and there are many members from different parties who should also be heard.

Disrupting the proceedings by members of a few parties is not right, and also anger of losing elections should not be shown in the House, the minister said and mentioned that even late BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee had also lost elections. While taking a jibe at the Congress on recent electoral losses, Rijiju said they are losing the confidence of the people. The Government is ready to discuss issues, he asserted.

Proceedings on the first day of the Winter Session on Monday had also been disrupted due to the Opposition's protests, leading to repeated adjournments. In the Rajya Sabha, the Government expressed willingness to discuss the SIR of electoral rolls, but Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the Opposition cannot dictate the timeline for the debate. The statement came as Opposition MPs intensified their protest in the Upper House after Chairman CP Radhakrishnan rejected their notices under Rule 267, citing failure to meet procedural requirements.

Despite continued sloganeering during Zero Hour, members refused to yield to the Chair’s requests for order. Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge insisted these were urgent matters, claiming nearly 28 people had died during the SIR exercise.

Leader of the House JP Nadda said the Parliamentary Affairs Minister had indicated the previous day that he would return with a response. “Today, I am told by the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, that very soon a meeting is going to take place with the Opposition leaders, and accordingly, we will decide.”

Opposition leaders stage a protest in Parliament over SIR

New Delhi: Several Opposition leaders, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, on Tuesday staged a protest in the Parliament House complex against the SIR and demanded a discussion on electoral reforms. Rahul Gandhi criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the issue, saying the PM States that Parliament belongs to the people of India, but he constantly “shies away” from discussing important issues related to people’s welfare.

“What could be a bigger public issue in a democracy than voting rights?” Rahul Gandhi said in a social media post in Hindi after the protest. Noting that the INDIA bloc held a strong protest outside Parliament House against the SIR, Gandhi said the Opposition demands that a serious discussion on the SIR should take place in Parliament to protect the Constitution and democracy. “Every citizen’s rights are vested in the vote, and the SIR is clearly a weapon to cut the votes of the country’s poor and Bahujan community and make elections one-sided,” the former Congress chief said.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who also participated in the protest, alleged that the Narendra Modi Government and the ECI were together executing ‘vote theft’ through the SIR. “This is an organised attempt to strip the voting rights of our millions of Dalit, backward, tribal, and deprived brothers and sisters. Despite all the questions being raised, the Election Commission is not answering any of them, and the Government is openly defending the Commission,” she said in a post in Hindi after the protest.