Govt may not yield to Opposition demand for discussion on SIR

Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju on Friday cited a ruling by former Lok Sabha speaker Balram Jakhar, arguing why Parliament could not discuss the functioning of the Election Commission of India (ECI).

Another day of the monsoon session of Parliament was washed out over the Opposition's demand that the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar be discussed in the two Houses.

Though Rijiju stressed that it was for the chairs of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha to take a call on the issue, indications emerged from official quarters that the government is unlikely to yield to the Opposition over an issue that has united the INDIA bloc parties in protest.

Jakhar, a late Congress veteran, was the speaker between 1980 and 1989, the last decade of the Congress majority in the Lok Sabha.

Rijiju said the SIR is part of the ECI's mandate. "This is not the first time the EC is doing it. Whether Parliament can discuss the EC's administrative work or not is for the Chair to decide in accordance with rules," he added.

He noted that a minister related to the issue in discussion generally replies to the concerns raised by members, and wondered who could do so in the case of the ECI, a constitutionally autonomous body. What is not favoured by rules and convention cannot be discussed, he said.

The Opposition has accused the ECI of acting at the behest of the government to benefit the ruling BJP in elections by allegedly removing voters sympathetic to them.

Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has alleged that the poll body was indulging in "vote chori (theft)".

Since the session began on 21 July, the Opposition's protest against the SIR and demand that it be discussed in Parliament has forced almost uninterrupted adjournments of the two Houses, barring the debate on the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor stretching for two productive days.

The Opposition is likely to press its demand again on Monday and at the meeting of the Business Advisory Committee, which decides the agenda, of the two Houses.

Hitting out at the Opposition for disrupting Parliament, Rijiju said it is not allowing other members to raise their issues and then claiming that it is not being allowed to speak.

The minister said vast resources, including manpower and money, are spent on running Parliament, but the Opposition's relentless protest has wasted them.

Every MP wants to raise an issue that he or she considers important, but Opposition parties are now allowing them to ask questions of the government or give voice to their sentiments on key matters, he said.

"Crores of rupees are spent on running Parliament. The Congress and its allies should apologise to people for their conduct," Rijiju said.