New Delhi: Just before the commencement of the third day of the parliament session, the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) MPs on Wednesday continued their protest for the second day at Parliament's Makar Dwar against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) being conducted by the Election Commission (EC) in poll bound Bihar, demanding to halt the revision exercise and alleging that voting rights of people are being stripped away.
Multiple leaders, including Lok Sabha's Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Deputy party leader in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi, Congress MPs Priyanka Gandhi and Manickam Tagore, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, and multiple other leaders were present.
The party leaders chanted slogans "Save our Democracy", "Save our Constitution," while holding placards calling for the SIR to be stopped.
Earlier on Tuesday, the INDIA bloc MPs had launched their protest against the Bihar SIR, with the same leaders gathering at Makar Dwar. The issue of Bihar SIR has been a contentious one with INDIA bloc MPs demanding a discussion on it in the parliament.
Opposition leaders have moved adjournment motion notices in both lower and upper houses to discuss various issues of public importance, including the special intensive revision (SIR) being carried out by the Election Commission (EC) in Bihar ahead of the upcoming assembly elections.
Earlier, Congress MP Pramod Tiwari criticised the SIR, calling it a "conspiracy" which has come to light, alleging an unprecedented removal of names from voter list is taking place.
"We are all protesting, their conspiracy has come to light, never before have so many names been removed before an election. This is an attempt by the BJP to murder democracy, like in Haryana and Maharashtra, we will knock on every door against it. But we will not let the BJP snatch away the right to vote," Tiwari told ANI.
Congress MP Manickam Tagore, who is also present at the protest, submitted an adjournment motion notice in Lok Sabha to discuss the voters' list revision.
In his notice, Tagore labelled the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise as "dangerous and unconstitutional" and accused the Narendra Modi-led government of "using" the election commission to "disenfranchise the poor and the marginalised communities in Bihar".
Rajya Sabha MP Jebi Mather Hisham submitted an Adjournment Motion, seeking a discussion on the concerns surrounding the SIR ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in Bihar.
In her letter to the Secretary General of Rajya Sabha, Hisham raised apprehensions over the actions of the Election Commission of India (ECI), alleging that the exercise had triggered fears of disenfranchisement among marginalised communities due to the absence of adequate safeguards and transparency. She also highlighted the relevance of the issue in the context of the forthcoming elections in Kerala and other states.
Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha MPs Akhilesh Prasad Singh, Syed Naseer Hussain, Ranani Ashokrao Patil, Ranjeet Ranjan, Sushmita Dev also submitted Adjournment Motions urging the House to take up the issue of SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar as a matter of urgent public importance.
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