SIR stir to continue in Parliament, INDIA bloc to protest outside Makar Dwar

NEW DELHI: Opposition MPs are set to continue their 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.

The INDIA bloc MPs will protest outside the Makar Dwar of the Parliament at 10:30 am ahead of the Parliament proceedings today.

Even on the first day of the Winter Session, the Lok Sabha witnessed several adjournments till noon, 2 pm, and later for the day, as opposition members insisted on discussing the SIR exercise ongoing 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.”

Further, Tagore said that the Opposition wants a debate on the issue as the subject deals with the right to vote of the citizens.

“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 away from this important issue because the right to vote is at stake. In Bihar, 62 lakh voters have been removed. Now it has 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.

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 that SIR was a process for registering every citizen’s votes. 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 whether we’re Indian citizens. 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.”

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.”

Meanwhile, on the second day of the Winter Session, the Central government is set to move the Central Excise (Amendment) Bill, 2025, for consideration and passing in the Lok Sabha. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to move the bill to amend the Central Excise Act in order to raise the excise duties and cess on tobacco products. (ANI)