Winter Session: Opposition MPs protest against electoral roll revision

Opposition Protests Electoral Roll Revision

Congress and other opposition MPs staged a protest against the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll as the Parliament gears up for the second day of the Winter Session.

Opposition members, including MPs from the INDIA bloc, gathered outside the Makar Dwar of the Parliament ahead of the day’s proceedings to express their discontent over the ongoing SIR exercise. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Sonia Gandhi also joined the protest.

Debate Demanded Over Voting Rights

On Monday, the first day of the Winter Session, the Lok Sabha witnessed multiple adjournments till noon, 2 pm, and later in the day, as opposition MPs demanded a discussion on the SIR being conducted in 12 States and Union Territories. Congress MP Manickam Tagore said, “The INDIA Alliance decided yesterday morning that we will stress for the discussion on SIR and the election electoral reform-related things. Today, at 10:30 am, we are having a demonstration in front of the Makar Dwar demanding the same thing. All the MPs are going to protest outside the parliament.”

Tagore further emphasised that the Opposition seeks a debate on the issue, underlining its impact on citizens’ voting rights. “I had given agenda motions also, and we hope that they are accepted. We want a debate on that subject. The government should not run from this critical issue, as the right to vote is at stake. In Bihar, 62 lakh voters have been removed. It has now been rolled out in 12 states. A lot of BLOs are committing suicide. We wanted to protect the democracy of India. And for that, we need a debate in the Parliament,” the Congress MP said.

Congress Likens SIR to CAA

On Monday, Congress MP Digvijaya Singh slammed the SIR exercise for delving into the question of citizenship, comparing it to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). He said, “We have always been in favour of the SIR. This has happened before. Back then, the SIR used to run for 2-4 months, and it was a process for registering every citizen’s vote. Voters didn’t fill out any forms. The BLO would come and ask, and we’d give them the information. Our vote would be added. This SIR requires us to fill out forms and provide proof of our Indian citizenship. You’ve enacted the CAA; get it investigated. This is not SIR, this is CAA. We object to it.”

Singh also said, “Our weakness is that we’re not able to do the physical on-the-ground work the Congress Party should do.”

BJP Hits Back at Opposition

Hitting back at the Opposition amid continuous protests and sloganeering inside the House, BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi said that the Prime Minister showed them a mirror with his “drama” jibe. She added that if the INDIA bloc continues to create ruckus over “baseless issues”, they will face similar electoral results as in the Bihar Assembly elections.

The BJP MP said, “Yesterday, PM Modi showed a mirror to the opposition leaders and also advised MPs that we should work constructively in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, and wherever discussions happen, we should express our thoughts constructively. But this did not happen. After the Bihar results, the opposition parties should have introspected and learned that if they create a ruckus in Parliament, raising baseless issues, the result will be the same as what happened in Bihar.”

Legislative Business on Day 2

On the second day of the Winter Session, the Central government is scheduled to move the Central Excise (Amendment) Bill, 2025, for consideration and passing in the Lok Sabha. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is expected to introduce the bill to amend the Central Excise Act, including proposals to increase excise duties and cess on tobacco products. (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)