Rajya Sabha disrupted again over SIR, adjourned twice in pre-lunch session

Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned twice in the pre-lunch session on Thursday, 31 July, as Opposition parties disrupted the House demanding a discussion on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bihar's electoral rolls being undertaken by the Election Commission.

The proceedings were first adjourned till 1200 hours and then again till 1400 hours as the Opposition led by Congress, TMC and DMK pressed for allocation of a time for discussion.

In the morning session, deputy chairman Harivansh cited loss of time in disruptions since the start of the monsoon session and asked MPs to allow listed business to be taken up.

But the Opposition parties continued to press for a time and date for holding a discussion on SIR.

Harivansh said the Opposition and Treasury benches must sit together and decide on the issue. But this did not cut much ice as Opposition MPs started raising slogans.

The deputy chairman called for taking up of the listed Zero Hour mentions but adjourned the proceedings till 1200 hrs as the Opposition MPs refused to relent.

When the House reassembled, Opposition MPs were on their feet raising slogans in support of their demand for a discussion on SIR.

The Opposition has been demanding a roll back of the SIR in Bihar till after the Assembly polls, which are due later this year.

Ghanshyam Tiwari who was in the chair urged the protesting MPs to maintain decorum in the House and allow the Question Hour to function. Unrelenting Opposition members, however, continued to raise slogans.

Some of the TMC members also trooped into the Well and continued with their sloganeering. Amid the din, the Chair adjourned the House till 1400 hrs.

Leader of the House J.P. Nadda said some Opposition parties staged a walk out on Wednesday when the Home minister started his reply to the debate on Operation Sindoor.

He drew the attention of the members to the proceedings of both the Houses in the aftermath of terrorist attack in Mumbai in December 2008, saying the then Home minister and prime minister replied to the debate in the Lok Sabha and the then Minister of Home Affairs replied to the discussion in the Rajya Sabha.

Nadda said he made it clear during the meeting of the Business Advisory Committee, that it is the government's prerogative to decide which minister should speak.

"The Opposition parties had demanded for a discussion and to elicit the information on Operation Sindoor. However, when the opportunity came, the Opposition parties in Rajya Sabha chose to walk out.

"Therefore the demand of the opposition parties yesterday was clearly misplaced and it displays their double standards," he said.

Earlier, when the House met for the day, Harivansh stated during the current monsoon session there was an opportunity to raise 120 questions, 120 Zero Hour mentions and an equal number of special mentions. But against this, only 11 questions, three Zero Hour mentions and 17 special mentions could be taken up. "Total time lost was 30 hours and six minutes."

"This time was member's time and not the government business time," he said.

He then went on to read a resolution the House had adopted on 1 September 1997 on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of Indian Independence.

The unanimous resolution had stated "That the prestige of Parliament be preserved and enhanced, also by conscious and dignified conformity to the entire regime of Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of the Houses and directions of the Presiding Officers relating to orderly conduct of business..."

"More especially by maintaining the inviolability of the Question Hour, refraining from transgressing into the official areas of the House, or from any shouting of slogans," he said, adding MPs must introspect.

He stated that 28 notices had been received under Rule 267 that seek to set aside the business of the day to discuss the issue being raised through such notices, but rejected them as not conforming to rules.

Niranjan Bishi, Debashish Samantaray, Sulata Deo, Sasmit Patra, Manas Ranjan Mangaraj, Suhasish Khuntia, Muzibulla Khan (all BJD) demanded discussion on increasing heinous crime against women in Odisha.

Neeraj Dangi, Akhilesh Prasad Singh, Rajiv Shukla, Renuka Chowdhury, Jebi Mather Hisham  (all Cong), Sanjay Singh (AAP), Saket Gokhale and Sushmita Dev (TMC), Abdul Wahab (IUML) demanded discussion over concerns arising out of SIR.

Mausam B Noor, Ritabrata Banerjee, Sagarika Ghose (all TMC), and Truchi Siva (DMK) demanded discussion on alleged discrimination against Bengali migrant workers in other states.

While Jose K Mani (KC-M), Haris Beeran (IUML), and John Brittas (CPM) demanded discussion on alleged unjust arrest of two nuns in Chhattisgarh, CPI's Sandosh Kumar P and P P Suneer, and V Sivadasan (CPM) sought a discussion on US imposing 25 per cent tariff and a penalty on Indian goods.

BJP's Samik Bhattacharya demanded discussion on direct threat to the constitutional authority of Election Commission and electoral integrity in West Bengal.

Ramjilal Suman (SP) sought a discussion on the sudden resignation of former Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar.

Pressing for a discussion on SIR, Siva (DMK) said the responsibility of smooth functioning of the House is not just of the Opposition but also of the government.

Pramod Tiwari (Cong) also lent his support on the issue while Patra (BJD) tried to raise the issue of crime against women in Odisha.

Harivansh, however, disallowed them from raising the issue.