Lok Sabha proceedings marred by Oppn protests over SIR, Speaker Birla reasserts focus on Operation Sindoor
Speaker Om Birla, visibly disappointed by the disruption, reiterated his earlier appeal for cooperation.
"I have requested you before, and I am urging you again," he said, addressing the Opposition.
"All party leaders agreed that the House would hold a special discussion on Operation Sindoor. The government and I have given our consent. I am again requesting you to allow the debate to proceed."
However, the Opposition, led by Congress and INDIA bloc members, insisted that the House first address the SIR exercise in Bihar, which they allege could disenfranchise marginalised communities ahead of the state's assembly elections.
Speaker Birla responded sharply, accusing the Opposition of reneging on its commitment.
"You made a commitment in the all-party meeting to begin with Operation Sindoor. Now you take a U-turn," he then said.
"Akhilesh ji, if you send leaders to me, ensure they are capable of making decisions. If someone else is pulling the strings from behind, they should not attend the all-party meet."
The Speaker's remarks appeared to be directed at Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav, who was present during the protests.
Speaker Birla emphasised that the House would proceed only with the scheduled debate on Operation Sindoor and not entertain other subjects raised from the well of the House.
Despite repeated appeals, the Opposition remained defiant, prompting Speaker Birla to adjourn proceedings until 2 p.m.
Operation Sindoor, India's military response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 innocent civilian lives, was scheduled for a 16-hour debate, starting on Monday.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh was expected to open the discussion, with interventions from Home Minister Amit Shah and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.
The standoff reflects deepening fault lines in Parliament, where the Monsoon session has already seen multiple adjournments over the SIR issue and demands for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's response to US President Donald Trump's claims of mediating a ceasefire between India and Pakistan.
As the House prepares to resume, the Union government faces mounting pressure to address both national security and electoral integrity, while the Opposition seeks to leverage procedural disruptions to spotlight its concerns.
Whether the debate on Operation Sindoor proceeds uninterrupted remains uncertain.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
24 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Amit Shah's promise on bail for nuns was not kept: Archbishop
Thalassery Archbishop Mar Joseph Pamplani on Friday said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah's assurance that the Malayali nuns arrested in Chhattisgarh would be granted bail had not materialised. Addressing the media in Kannur on the sidelines of the protest led by the Thalassery, Kottayam and Kannur dioceses, Archbishop Pamplani said that although Amit Shah had promised that the Chattisgarh government would not oppose the bail plea, the government's lawyer argued in court that the nuns had committed a non-bailable offence. He noted that while the country at large acknowledged that the nuns had not done anything wrong, they remained in custody. Citing Central government data, he said forced conversions had not taken place in the country and termed the Prohibition of Forced Conversion Act as a tool to harass individuals like the detained nuns.
Indian Express
24 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Delhi Confidential: New assignment
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will release the 20th installment of the PM-Kisan scheme from his constituency Varanasi on Saturday. Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, however, will not join the PM at the event as he has been asked to attend the programme in poll-bound Bihar. Chouhan will attend the function via videoconferencing from Patna. This is the first time since Chouhan took charge as the Agriculture Minister in June 2024 that he won't share the stage with PM Modi during the PM-Kisan installment release event. He has attended all three previous functions — at Varanasi (June 2024), Washim (October 2024) and Bhagalpur (February 2025) — in person. Pledge To Protect A recent drive showed that the Indian Armed Forces continue to be one of the biggest supporters of the country's organ donation initiatives. Since rolling out an Aadhaar-enabled digital database of organ donors, NOTTO, the country's apex organ donation regulator, has been conducting drives to get more and more people to sign up. In one such drive, the Indian Army, Mumbai recorded the highest number of pledges with nearly 26,000 Army personnel signing up for organ donation. On Back Burner Again Preparations for the BJP's annual Tiranga Yatra seem to have put a halt on the party's organisational elections in states such as UP and Gujarat, which, many within the BJP believe, is causing further delay in the process to elect the next national party president. BJP insiders say organisational activities around the programme have pushed the internal elections beyond 'at least August 15'.
NDTV
24 minutes ago
- NDTV
Poll Body Releases Draft Voter List For Bihar, Allows One Month For Claims
New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday released the draft voter list for Bihar, following a month-long special intensive revision (SIR) process. The EC said the public has one month to submit claims and objections, assuring that "no name will be removed from the draft voter list without a stated reason." In a statement, the ECI clarified that the draft list has already been shared with all political parties and urged citizens to review their voter information thoroughly and also specified that "no name will be removed from the draft voter list without a stated reason" "The draft voter list has been released today in Bihar. One-month period for claims and objections begins; draft list shared with political parties. Still a full one month to get names added. No name will be removed from the draft voter list without a stated reason," the Commission stated in a statement on X. On Thursday, Chief Election Commissioner of India, Gyanesh Kumar, said."Dear Electors of Bihar, as per Para 7(4) of SIR orders (Page 3), the draft electoral rolls of Bihar are being published tomorrow ie Friday, the 1 Aug 2025 at "Physical as well as digital copies will also be given to all recognised political parties in Bihar in all 38 districts by all the 38 District Election Officers (DEOs) of Bihar," the CEC said in a message, according to Voters' Services Portal. The CEC said that the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Bihar and 243 Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) will also be inviting any elector of that assembly constituency or any recognised political party in Bihar to come forward and give claims and objections from Aug 1 to Sep 1, 2025 for adding names of any missing eligible elector, removing names of any ineligible elector or correction of any entry in the draft electoral rolls. The Election Commission had said on Sunday that out of 7.89 crore registered voters in Bihar, over 7.24 crore electors have submitted their enumeration forms under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) held from June 24 to July 25, reflecting a 91.69 per cent participation rate. The Commission described the SIR as a "massive and successful citizen participation effort" across the state, aimed at enhancing the accuracy of the electoral rolls ahead of upcoming assembly elections. Election Commission said in a press release that the enumeration exercise was launched to verify and update voter records across all 38 districts of Bihar." The first aim of SIR was participation of all electors and all political parties," adding that the role of Booth Level Officers (BLOs), Booth Level Agents (BLAs), volunteers, and political party workers contributed significantly to the process. Booth Level Officers (BLOs) visited each registered elector's residence, distributing and collecting forms in at least three rounds. Additional efforts targeted urban voters, young first-time voters, and temporary migrants from Bihar. The ECI had clarified that names in the electoral rolls will not be deleted without a proper notice and written order by the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO), as per SIR guidelines. Bihar's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise has also revealed that approximately 35 lakh electors are either untraced or have permanently migrated from their registered addresses. The Supreme Court had earlier this week posted for hearing a batch of pleas challenging the Election Commission of India's move to conduct SIR of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar. The pleas are listed for August 12 and 13. On petitioners' apprehension that 65 lakh voters are going to be excluded from the draft list to be published by the Election Commission of India in the SIR process on August 1, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi said that if there is any mass exclusion of voters, then the court will step in. On Monday, the top court again asked ECI to consider including the Aadhaar card and electoral photo identity card as admissible documents to prove the identity of voters during the SIR of electoral rolls being undertaken in Bihar. It had also refused to stop the Election Commission from publishing the draft electoral rolls for Bihar on August 1 as per the schedule.
