Parliament Winter Session: Opposition MPs stage protest over SIR

Congress and other opposition MPs staged a protest against the ongoing Special Intensive Revision SIR of the electoral roll as Parliament prepared for the second day of the Winter SessionOpposition members including MPs from the INDIA bloc gathered outside the Makar Dwar of Parliament ahead of the dayrsquos proceedings to voice their concerns over the SIR exercise reported news agency ANICongress President Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Sonia Gandhi also participated in the protestOn Monday the first day of the Winter Session the Lok Sabha witnessed multiple adjournments until noon 2 pm and later in the day as opposition MPs demanded a discussion on the SIR being conducted in 12 States and Union TerritoriesAccording to ANI Congress MP Manickam Tagore said The INDIA Alliance decided yesterday morning that we will stress for the discussion on SIR and the election electoral reformrelated things Today at 1030 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 parliamentTagore further emphasised that the Opposition seeks a debate on the issue underlining its impact on citizens voting rightsI had given agenda motions also and we hope that they are accepted We want a debate on that subject The government should not run from this critical issue as the right to vote is at stake In Bihar 62 lakh voters have been removed It has now 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 reported ANIOn Monday Congress MP Digvijaya Singh slammed the SIR exercise for delving into the question of citizenship comparing it to the Citizenship Amendment Act CAAHe said We have always been in favour of the SIR This has happened before Back then the SIR used to run for 24 months and it was a process for registering every citizens vote Voters didnt fill out any forms The BLO would come and ask and wed give them the information Our vote would be added This SIR requires us to fill out forms and provide proof of our Indian citizenship Youve enacted the CAA get it investigated This is not SIR this is CAA We object to itAs per ANI Singh also said Our weakness is that were not able to do the physical ontheground work the Congress Party should doHitting 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 electionsThe 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 BiharOn the second day of the Winter Session the Central government is scheduled to move the Central Excise Amendment Bill 2025 for consideration and passing in the Lok Sabha Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is expected to introduce the bill to amend the Central Excise Act including proposals to increase excise duties and cess on tobacco productsWith ANI inputs