Ahead of the Winter Session, Samajwadi Party’s Ram Gopal Yadav said the House won’t function without a debate on the voter list revision (SIR) in 12 states. The Opposition alleges the BJP is depriving people of their right to vote via the exercise.
Ahead of the Winter Session of the Parliament, Samajwadi Party MP Ram Gopal Yadav said that the House will not function if there is no discussion on the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter lists in the 12 States and Union Territories.
When asked if the Opposition will allow the House to function amid no debate on the SIR exercise, Ram Gopal Yadav told ANI, “The house will not function if there will be no discussion on the SIR…” “Whatever issues we demand a debate on, do they actually allow it? They remain hotheaded,” he added.
Opposition Unites on Key Issues
The ongoing SIR is among the key issues the Opposition is looking to raise in the Parliament, along with the Delhi blast, which killed 15 people, as well as the air pollution in the national capital.
Earlier today, Congress MPs Manickam Tagore and Vijay Kumar Vasanth moved an adjournment motion in Parliament seeking an urgent debate on the ongoing SIR of voter lists. AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh also moved a Suspension of Business notice in the House over the SIR and the deaths of the BLOs in several states.
‘Threat to Democracy’: SP Slams SIR Exercise
Samajwadi Party MP Awadhesh Prasad said that the entire opposition will raise the concerns related to the SIR exercise, which is currently underway in several parts of the country, while calling the poll body’s step a “threat to democracy”.
Speaking to ANI, Prasad alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government is attempting to deprive people of their right to vote through the SIR exercise.”…SIR is the biggest issue, threat to democracy, Constitution…There is nothing more precious than the right to vote…The BJP government wants to deprive people of the right to vote through the SIR,” he said.
“It can be seen that the deployment of the BLOs has been done based on party lines, and most of them are distributing forms to the BJP workers. Though the SIR deadline has been extended, there is so much work that more than half of the BLOs have died in UP. The entire opposition will be raising this issue in the Parliament,” Prasad added.
Details of Voter List Revision
The second phase of the SIR exercise covers Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal, following the successful completion of the first phase in Bihar.
Winter Session Agenda
The Winter session of the Parliament is set to begin today. The government has listed a total of 13 Bills for consideration during the Winter Session, many of which have not been examined by a Standing Committee.
The Parliament is set to have 15 sittings across 19 days. Private Members’ Bills are set to be taken for consideration on December 5 and 19, and Private Members’ resolutions on December 12. (ANI)
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