New Delhi, Dec 2: Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned till 12 noon on Tuesday, the second consecutive day of the Winter Session, following protests by opposition parties demanding a discussion on the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
The House convened at 11 am, with Speaker Om Birla welcoming a parliamentary delegation from Georgia seated in the Speaker’s Gallery to observe the proceedings.
Soon after, the Question Hour commenced, but the opposition members rose to their feet, shouting slogans demanding a discussion on the Election Commission’s SIR.
Amid the chaos, Birla allowed two MPs to ask questions related to different ministries, and the respective ministers replied to the supplementaries.
As the protest continued, the Speaker urged the members to cooperate, stressing the importance of Question Hour.
“In a democracy, it is natural to have differences. But behaviour and utterances of some members inside and outside the House are not acceptable,” he said, adding that all members should maintain the dignity of the House and the country.
“I always give enough time to every member. But everyone should also maintain the highest standard of the world’s largest democracy,” he said.
The Speaker then adjourned the house till 12 noon.
Proceedings on the first day of the Winter Session on Monday had also been disrupted due to the opposition protests, leading to repeated adjournments
The last session was a virtual washout over demands by the opposition for a debate on the SIR, then being held in Bihar.
Opposition leaders, while emerging from an all-party meeting on Sunday, had said that they would press for a debate on SIR.
The EC had announced SIR in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
Among these, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, and West Bengal will go to the polls in 2026. In Assam, where polls are also due in 2026, the revision of electoral rolls was announced separately. It is being called ‘Special Revision’.
Nearly 51 crore electors will be covered in the massive voters’ list cleanup exercise.
The primary aim of the SIR is to weed out foreign illegal migrants by checking their place of birth.
The move assumes significance in the wake of a crackdown in various states on illegal migrants, including those from Bangladesh and Myanmar.
