Day 2 of the Parliament’s Winter Session began with intense protests as Opposition members pressed the government on Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and electoral reforms.
Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Sonia Gandhi, and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge led the demonstration, accusing the government of “voter fraud” and “electoral rolls manipulation” under the SIR exercise. Lawmakers stood in the Parliament premises holding placards that read “End SIR, stop vote chori.”
Kharge told reporters that their fight against “injustice” and attempts to “silence democracy” would continue. The Opposition insists that SIR is a backdoor tactic to manipulate voter lists and benefit the ruling BJP, while the government dismisses the charge as “a figment of imagination.”
The Election Commission describes SIR as an essential voter verification and purge exercise ahead of elections. However, the issue has already caused a washout of Day 1 proceedings and threatens to derail the short Winter Session.
The Winter Session, scheduled from December 1 to 19 with 15 sittings, is one of the shortest in recent years. The government plans to introduce 13 legislative bills and one financial bill, but confrontation over SIR could overshadow legislative business.
Besides SIR, the Opposition has lined up other issues, including the Red Fort blast and Delhi-NCR air pollution, but SIR remains its most potent weapon to corner the government.
ALSO READ: NHAI Partners with Reliance Jio to Launch Safety Alert System on Highways
