Parliament Monsoon Session: Oppn to protest against Bihar SIR amid RJD's boycott poll "discussion"

New Delhi [India], July 24 (ANI): The Opposition parties are set to protest in the Parliament for the fourth consecutive day on Thursday against the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) being conducted by the Election Commission (EC). The opposition parties have repeatedly called for a discussion in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha regarding the revision exercise, moving adjournment motions every day since the start of the monsoon session. 

The opposition parties have been protesting at the Parliament steps since the start of the session, too, alleging that the revision exercise is being used for voter manipulation and deletion of votes ahead of the assembly elections. 

Meanwhile, in Bihar, the Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav and party MP Manoj Jha have said that there “might” be a discussion of the possibility of a poll boycott.

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, along with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, DMK MP Kanimozhi, Congress leaders Manickam Tagore and KC Venugopal, participated in the protest for the past few days. 

Multiple Congress MPs have also moved adjournment motions in Rajya Sabha to discuss the ongoing SIR being conducted by the Election Commission in poll-bound Bihar, and raising concerns over the exercise, which is likely to be carried out across the country, including in West Bengal. 

Alleging that the revision exercise is being used as a cover to disenfranchise voters, atleast six Congress MPs have moved the Notice of Motion for Suspension of rules under Rule 267 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Council of States (Rajya Sabha). 

Party leaders in the upper house, including Rajani Ashokrao Patil, Jebi Mather, Ranjeet Ranjan, Neeraj Dangi, and Akhilesh Prasad Singh, have called for the house to suspend Zero Hour and Question Hour on Thursday to discuss the Bihar SIR. 

Party leader Neeraj Dangi, while submitting the motion to the RS Secretary General, raised the issue of how certain people from socio-economically vulnerable communities, and people who migrate, facing difficulties with documents. 

“To discuss the concerns arising out of the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Bihar and reports of such exercise being extended to West Bengal and nation-wide. High levels of migration and document-related difficulties in such states raise questions about disenfranchisement among large sections of socio-economically vulnerable communities,” the RS MP wrote in his motion.  

Another RS MP, Rajani Ashokrao Patil, also submitted an adjournment motion, saying how the actions of the poll panel has “sparked apprehensions about potential electoral manipulation.” She also likened it to the previous claims by Rahul Gandhi regarding the 2024 Maharashtra assembly elections, in which the party has claimed large scale voter additions has happened.

Patil wrote in her letter, “To discuss the concerns arising out of the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Bihar ahead of elections, as well as reports of a similar exercise being planned in West Bengal and other states. These actions have sparked grave apprehensions about potential electoral manipulation, particularly in view of concerns that had emerged in Maharashtra during the 2024 legislative Assembly elections.” (ANI)