Parliament Disrupted For Fourth Consecutive Day Over Voter Roll Revision in Bihar

New Delhi: The Parliament proceedings were disrupted for the fourth consecutive day as the Opposition members continued to protest over the revision of electoral rolls in Bihar.

Several MPs of the INDIA bloc parties, including Congress parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, protested in the Parliament House complex on Thursday against the Election Commission's voter roll revision in Bihar and demanded its rollback as well as a discussion on the issue in both Houses.

Ahead of the start of the day's proceedings, top leaders and MPs of the Opposition, including those of the Congress, DMK, TMC, Samajwadi Party, JMM, RJD and the Left parties, assembled outside the Makar Dwar of Parliament and raised slogans against the government and the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Trinamul Congress Rajya Sabha leader Derek O'Brien blamed the government for disruptions in Parliament and said they are running away from debate on the special intensive revision exercise in Bihar. "As usual, the creaky Modi coalition will themselves continue to disrupt Parliament," Mr O'Brien said, adding, "They will run away from discussing issues like SIR and the targeting of Bengal. The government does not want Parliament to run."

The Lok Sabha on Thursday worked for less than 15 minutes. The first adjournment came barely seven minutes after the House assembled in the morning at 11 am. When the house reassembled at 2 pm, the Opposition parties continued to protest, demanding the withdrawal of the ongoing voter roll revision in Bihar. Amidst the ruckus, the House was adjourned for the day.

In the morning, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla asked the protesting members to go back to their seats and assured them that, as per rules, they will be given opportunities to raise issues. He mentioned the name of senior Congress leader K.C. Venugopal and said it was not the culture of his party to indulge in sloganeering in the House.

Mr Birla repeatedly mentioned that sloganeering and display of placards is not in accordance with the dignity of the House and wondered what kind of message such actions will send out. As the din continued, Mr Birla adjourned the proceedings. One question was taken up before the proceedings were adjourned till 2 pm.

When the House met again at 2 pm, Krishna Prasad Tenneti, who was chairing the House, urged members to participate in a bill which seeks to provide seats for Scheduled Tribes in the Goa Legislative Assembly. Law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal questioned the Opposition for not allowing discussion on the bill which will benefit the Scheduled Tribe population of the state. As protests continued unabated, the proceedings were adjourned for the day.

In the morning session of the Rajya Sabha, as soon as the House bid farewell to six retiring members, the Opposition MPs started protesting against the deputy Chairman Harivansh's decision to decline 30 notices under Rule 267 demanding discussion on SIR, alleged discrimination against migrant workers from Bengal in other states, resignation of vice-president of India Jagdeep Dhankhar and increasing instances of cyber fraud.

During the Zero Hour, the Chair had announced its decision to decline the 30 notices, resulting in a small protest. However, Mr Harivansh convinced the protesting Opposition members to allow the House to bid farewell to the six retiring members. Mr Harivansh, Leader of the House J.P. Nadda and senior members from various parties spoke highly about the contribution of the retiring members towards strengthening democratic traditions.

The terms of DMK MPs M. Mohamed Abdulla, P. Wilson and M. Shanmugam, AIADMK's N. Chandrasegharan, Anbumani Ramadoss of the PMK and Vaiko of the MDMK came to an end. The farewell speeches continued even during the Question Hour, which starts at noon. However, when the speeches were over at around 12.30 pm, the Opposition again started the protest, forcing the Chair to adjourn the proceedings till 2 pm.

The Upper House was adjourned for the day shortly after reassembling for the post-lunch session as the Opposition MPs raised slogans demanding the withdrawal of the SIR exercise in Bihar. When it met at 2 pm, the Carriage of Goods by Sea Bill 2025 was taken up for discussion. AIADMK MP M. Thambidurai, who could not complete his speech on the bill on Wednesday amid protests, was asked to continue by Chair Bhubaneswar Kalita. The Opposition MPs, meanwhile, continued their protest and raised slogans demanding that the SIR exercise be stopped.

After Mr Thambidurai, Ayodhya Rami Reddy of the YSRCP started speaking on the bill. However, the protests continued. The Opposition MPs came close to the member's seat and raised slogans. Amid the din, the Chair adjourned the House for the day.

Earlier in the day, Ujjwal Deorao Nikam (nominated MP) took oath as a member of the Rajya Sabha.