Both Houses of Parliament were adjourned on Friday till July 28 amid continued protests by opposition MPs demanding a discussion on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls in Bihar.
The Lok Sabha was adjourned twice – first at 11 a.m. and then for the day at 2 p.m. following relentless sloganeering in the well of the House. The Rajya Sabha was also adjourned at 2 p.m. and will now reconvene on Monday.
Lok Sabha Chairperson Jagdambika Pal, presiding in the absence of Speaker Om Birla, appealed to opposition members to maintain decorum and allow the introduction of private members’ bills. However, protests continued, leading to a complete halt in proceedings.
Earlier in the day, Speaker Om Birla convened an all-party meeting to resolve the stalemate and emphasized the need for cooperation to allow the House to function. He also urged MPs to let the scheduled 16-hour debate on “Operation Sindoor” take place on July 28.
In the Rajya Sabha, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s remarks were interrupted by opposition MPs demanding a discussion under Rule 267 on the Bihar SIR. Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh rejected the notices, calling out members for breaches of decorum.
Oppn MPs tear, throw ‘SIR’ posters in bin: Several MPs of the INDIA bloc parties, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi, on Friday held an unusual protest in Parliament House complex against the voter roll revision in Bihar by tearing posters with ‘SIR’ written on them and putting them in a ‘disposal bin’.
The opposition MPs also staged a protest march in Parliament House complex, demanding the rollback of SIR as well as a discussion on the issue in both houses.
Kharge alleged that the Modi government wants to remove the votes of the poor, Dalits, tribals, backward classes, minorities and the deprived, so that it can change the Constitution of India according to the Manusmriti.
Ahead of the start of the day’s proceedings, several MPs of the opposition, including those of the Congress, DMK, Samajwadi Party, TMC, JMM, RJD and Left parties, among others, carried out a protest march with the banner ‘SIR- Loktantra Par Vaar’.
Then in front of the Makar Dwar steps, a ‘disposal bin’ was placed and one by one the opposition leaders, including Kharge and Gandhi, tore the poster with SIR written on it and put it in the bin as a symbolic rejection of the exercise.
The MPs also raised slogans like “Save democracy” and “Stop vote-bandi”.
The opposition MP also staged their protest in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Parliament premises and raised slogans against SIR.