STORM OVER BIHAR’S SIR ROCKS PARLIAMENT

Massive uproar in Parliament over Bihar voter list deletions and SIR.

- MANOHAR KESARI

While heavy rains cooled the streets of Delhi, Parliament simmered with political unrest over the contentious Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.

The controversy has become a dominant force both inside and outside the House, with opposition parties, led by the I.N.D.I.A bloc—Congress, Trinamool Congress (TMC), Samajwadi Party (SP), and DMK—holding daily protests at Makar Dwar half an hour before sessions began over the last 10 days. The protests carried into both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, disrupting proceedings so frequently that both Houses had to be adjourned within 3 to 5 minutes of sitting. On Friday, tensions escalated as the presence of commandos near the Well of the Rajya Sabha prompted additional complaints from the opposition.

The last 10 days have seen 20 adjournments each in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha due to uproar over the SIR process. Opposition MPs are demanding a structured discussion within Parliament, but the Speaker has so far only offered to take up the matter in the Business Advisory Committee (BAC). Meanwhile, the Central Election Commission has shared the draft electoral roll of Bihar with all political parties, but that has not quelled the agitation.