SIR to set tone for Winter Session

Buoyed by the massive success in last month’s Bihar assembly polls, the BJP-led NDA at the Centre is ready to take on the rather weakened Opposition in Parliament as the Winter Session begins on Monday.

Ahead of the Session, which is likely to be the shortest in recent years, the all-party meeting convened by the Centre on Sunday saw both the ruling and Opposition at loggerheads on a range of issues, including the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Around 50 leaders of 36 political parties attended the all-party meeting, which included Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP president and Union Minister JP Nadda, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, MoS Arjun Ram Meghwal, L Murugan, Opposition leaders like Jairam Ramesh, Ram Gopal Yadav and others. A separate meeting of Opposition parties has been called on Monday morning to strategise the floor management of both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. It will also see the new Vice President CP Radhakrishnan presiding over the Rajya Sabha in his capacity as the ex officio Chairman of the Upper House. He was elected in September 2025 as Vice President of India, after Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned as VP on the first day of the Monsoon Session this year.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju sought the Opposition’s support for the smooth functioning of Parliament, as the Opposition, which is in good numbers now, has stalled the proceedings of Parliament post the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Opposition parties raised the demand for a discussion on issues of national security in the wake of the Delhi blast and air pollution in the national Capital. Centre is likely to come up with 14 legislations.  

Sources said issues like foreign policy, price rise, unemployment, new labour codes and federalism amid charges that Governors sitting on bills passed by State legislatures and funds of Opposition-ruled States being held up were also raised and would come up during the session beginning December 1. A discussion on 150 years of national song Vande Matram is also on schedule, which too is likely to see unrest in the House-led parties like TMC, AIMM and others.

Sources said at the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting of the Rajya Sabha, chaired by Chairman C P Radhakrishnan, the Opposition leaders demanded a short discussion on SIR. “If the discussion is not allowed, the Government will be held responsible for disrupting Parliament, not the Opposition,” said an Opposition party MP, adding that the BAC of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha remained inconclusive and will be held again on Monday before the Parliament resumes.

The Winter session of Parliament, scheduled from December 1 to December 19, will see the Government’s legislation, such as opening up the civil nuclear sector to the private sector (The Atomic Energy Bill, 2025) and setting up a Higher Education Commission of India. The Securities Markets Code Bill (SMC), 2025, also listed, proposes to consolidate provisions of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992, Depositories Act, 1996, and Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956, into a rationalised single Securities Markets Code. The Central Excise (Amendment) Bill, 2025, and the Health Security and National Security Cess Bill, 2025, have been listed for the session.