Kharge, Sonia other Opposition MPs protest against SIR in Parliament

Several MPs of the INDIA bloc parties, including Congress parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, staged a protest in the Parliament House complex on Thursday, 7 August, against the Election Commission's voter roll revision in Bihar.

Holding banners and posters against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Samajwadi Party's Dharmendra Yadav, TMC's Sagarika Ghose, as well as other Opposition MPs raised slogans and demanded a rollback of the SIR as they staged their protest near Parliament's Makar Dwar.

This was the 12th day of their protest with only one day gap in between on Monday when the Opposition skipped their protest in view of the demise of former Jharkhand chief minister Shibu Soren.

There was a huge banner in front of the protesting MPs which read 'Discussion not deletion'. Another banner carried by the protesting MPs read 'SIR - Silent Invisible Rigging'.

With 'Stop SIR' placards along with posters, alleging collusion between the EC and the government, in hand, the MPs of the opposition, including those of the Congress, DMK, TMC, and Left parties, among others, participated in the protest.

The Opposition has been protesting in both Houses of Parliament against the SIR, alleging the EC's exercise was aimed at "disenfranchising voters" in Bihar ahead of the Assembly elections. They have been demanding a discussion on the issue in both Houses.

There has been a logjam in Parliament over the SIR in Bihar. Barring discussions on Operation Sindoor in both Houses, Parliament has seen little business ever since the Monsoon session began on 21 July due to repeated adjournments, mostly over the SIR issue.