NEW DELHI: The govt Tuesday relented to opposition parties’ unanimous demand for a debate in Parliament on SIR, albeit under the broader subject of election reforms, as the two sides reached an agreement to rule out the grim prospect of another session washout.The govt prevailed on the opposition to first take up a discussion on Vande Mataram in Lok Sabha on Dec 8. The debate on election reforms will take place on Dec 9, parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju said, adding that 10 hours each have been allotted for the two debates, with the possibility of extension. Sources said PM Narendra Modi is expected to initiate the special discussion on the 150th anniversary of India’s national song, an innate component of the governing BJP’s cultural agenda.
Though the debate will be held under the anodyne head of “electoral reforms”, it will focus on the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, pitting opposition’s “vote chori” charge against the governing side’s “protection of infiltrators for vote bank considerations” accusation.The breakthrough was reached at a meeting of floor leaders of all parties with Speaker Om Birla after the opposition’s disruptions to push its demand led to the adjournment of LS, like it did on Monday, the first day of Parliament’s winter sessionCong slams govt ‘arrogance’, Rijiju blames oppn for logjamOpposition parties staged a walkout from Rajya Sabha after Kiren Rijiju conveyed the govt’s willingness for the discussion, but offered no timing and proposed that the Vande Mataram debate be taken up first.He said, “Vande Mataram is a matter related to our freedom struggle. Matters related to electoral reforms are also extremely important. Considering that opposition parties have united to raise one issue, the govt is ready to take up a discussion, but to have it before the discussion on Vande Mataram may not be appropriate.”Opposition MPs demanded prioritising the SIR debate as “people are dying”, with Leader of Opposition in RS Mallikarjun Kharge jabbing the govt by saying, “Vande Mataram comes from us not from them”. To this, RS chairman C P Radhakrishnan was quick to say, “Vande Mataram is for everyone”.As the deadlock was broken, Congress claimed a win, saying the govt’s arrogance had finally bowed to the unity of opposition parties. Its chief whip in Lok Sabha Manickam Tagore said, “One full monsoon session was washed out because of this. Two days of the winter session already wasted. Democracy is not a playground for diversion — it demands accountability.”Rijiju, however, blamed the opposition’s insistence on a debate on SIR for the logjam, insisting that the govt was always open to a discussion on a subject with wider scope. SIR is an administrative work of Election Commission, an autonomous body, that cannot be discussed in Parliament, but the legislature can always cover the agenda of election reforms, he told reporters.During its meetings with the govt as the winter session began, the opposition had proposed that a discussion can be taken up under any subject with wider dimensions that will allow it to speak on the ongoing SIR and the govt had agreed to consider its demand. The opposition is up in arms against the ongoing SIR in 12 states and UTs, including WB and TN where its constituents are in office and polls are due in the first half of 2026, alleging suicides by BLOs due to workload and irregularities aimed at deleting votes of targeted segments of population.The governing NDA’s morale has received a big boost after notching up a big win in Bihar. The Congress-RJD-Left coalition had strongly opposed SIR in its campaign before the polling was announced, with Rahul Gandhi leading a long yatra alleging a BJP-EC nexus for “vote chori”. However, it failed to draw much traction and the combine slumped to one of the worst losses a vanquished coalition has ever suffered in Bihar.
