NEW DELHI: Opposition parties disrupted proceedings in Lok Sabha and walked out of Rajya Sabha on the first day of the winter session after government refused to concede their demand to immediately allow a debate on the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls being conducted by Election Commission.They rejected the stand of parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju that the demand for debate over SIR was under consideration but govt could not be tied to a timeline.
The upcoming days are likely to see more disruptions as there is no indication that the government might relent on its stand not to discuss the functioning of Election Commission, an independent body. The opposition is determined to force the issue and chose the path of confrontation despite misgivings among smaller INDIA bloc parties.You can’t dictate timeline for govt call on sir debateRijiju tells oppnThere are signs suggesting that Trinamool is plowing its own furrow in the matter (special intensive revision of electoral rolls being conducted by Election Commission) rather than following Congress. At a meeting of the grouping, leader of opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, is learned to have repeated his “vote manipulation” charge — a clear sign that Congress would remain hewed to its stand opposing special intensive revision.There were repeated adjournments in the first half of the session as opposition shouted slogans disregarding Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla’s appeal not to do so. “You can raise slogans outside but not in the House,” he said. A bill introduced by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to implement amendments to GST law in Manipur was passed in Lok Sabha amid the day.Sitharaman also introduced in Lok Sabha two new bills that seek to repurpose levies on ‘sin goods’ such as tobacco, pan masala and related products. However, with opposition persisting with its slogan shouting, the House had to be adjourned for the day in the second half.In Rajya Sabha, opposition MPs were on their feet to press their demand soon after the felicitation of chairman CP Radhakrishnan, who chaired the proceedings for the first time since his election as Vice President in Sept this year.TMC member Derek O’Brien said that parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju had promised them on Sunday to get back to them on their demand that SIR should be taken up under the broader agenda of “electoral reforms”. Leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, and CPM’s John Brittas joined in the demand.They cited suicides by booth-level officers (BLOs) due to alleged workload, with Kharge calling for taking up the debate on SIR first as they have been demanding it since last session.Rijiju reiterated that their demand is under government’s consideration and that he would get back as soon as possible. “Nobody is undermining the matter taken up by opposition. It is under consideration of Govt. But you cannot impose conditions like taking up the discussion today. There are opposition parties other than a dozen (demanding debate on SIR), who represent different states and want discussion on other issues,” he said. Opposition MPs told Rijiju that he had promised on Sunday to convey to them the government’s decision by 9pm the same day. Rijiju, however, said opposition cannot dictate a timeline.“Timeline is not the problem. But there is a trust deficit,” retorted Derek. Opposition members then staged a walkout in protest, following which the Chair took up special mentions and Zero Hour.Opposition officials said that they will continue to stick to their demand for SIR discussion on Tuesday and will take stock of the situation on Wednesday amid slender hope in its ranks that the government could agree.The INDIA bloc will protest against the SIR at the Parliament entrance on Tuesday morning, in what will be reminiscent of the Monsoon session that was washed out over protests against ‘vote theft’.Many eyebrows were raised when Trinamool did not join the meeting of INDIA bloc held at Congress’s initiative. Also, smaller parties from Kerala like CPI, CPM, RSP and IUML felt that complete washout of proceedings should be avoided as there were important issues to be highlighted.Congress president Kharge sympathized with them, but said the issue of SIR is important and government should accept the demand for discussion even if it is under some other subject like “electoral reforms”.But, sources said, a difference of views was the reason why the opposition has decided to take a fresh look at the issue after two days.
