
TMC seeks timeline for talks on SIR, Sindoor
Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, the party's deputy leader in Lok Sabha, made the demand during an all-party meeting convened by Speaker Om Birla where Union ministers Arjun Meghwal and Kiren Rijiju were present.
Dastidar said the Speaker informed her that discussion on Operation Sindoor would begin Monday but did not commit to a timeframe to discuss SIR. According to her, the Speaker cited a UPA-era rule that stated: "EC, being an autonomous body, its functions cannot be discussed on the floor of the House."
"Discussions on Operation Sindoor are important. We too want to know where the perpetrators went. But the discussions must include SIR. The UPA logic doesn't hold because EC has now become a BJP party office," Dastidar told reporters outside Parliament. "SIR is a dark shadow on our democracy. Overnight, eligible voters are being struck off voter rolls. This hits (at) the core of our democracy," she added.
You Can Also Check:
Kolkata AQI
|
Weather in Kolkata
|
Bank Holidays in Kolkata
|
Public Holidays in Kolkata
Trinamool MPs were part of continuing protests in Parliament on Friday.
by Taboola
by Taboola
Sponsored Links
Sponsored Links
Promoted Links
Promoted Links
You May Like
Search and Discover
search
Search Now
Undo
The party's leader in the Rajya Sabha, Derek O'Brien, said, "The SIR issue is TMC's top priority. EC has a mandate to conduct elections as a constitutional body, but we cannot allow genuine citizens who are voters to be removed."
"We will talk to like-minded parties. We should also gherao the EC. It is operating like a BJP branch office. They are depriving people of their rights. This is not just about Bihar. It's a dangerous ploy nationally.
We want Parliament to run; every opposition party wants Parliament to run. We want discussion under any rule on SIR. If the govt does not allow that, it means they want to disrupt the House," O'Brien said.
Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra, who had moved the SC on this issue, told ANI: "Such a thing has never happened in the history of India. The EC, which is a constitutional body, is working as a branch of the BJP. CEC speaks like a spokesperson of the BJP... In 24 hours, the number of untraceable voters went from over 11,000 to more than 1 lakh... If the home ministry is trying to say that there are 56 lakh illegal voters in Bihar, where did they come from?"

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Time of India
24 minutes ago
- Time of India
Tharoor unlikely to speak on debate on Pahalgam attack, Op Sindoor issues in LS
NEW DELHI: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor is unlikely to speak on the debate on Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor that gets underway in LS on Monday. "He has not asked the party to be fielded in the debate. The party too has not approached him either till now," sources said. It is to be seen who opens the debate for opposition or initiates the debate in case the chair asks anti-BJP benches to take the lead. The discussion is not being done under any specific rule of LS procedures and is also not based on any notice, sources said, quoting consultations between opposition, government and Speaker. While the belief is that Rahul Gandhi may start, there have been times like during opposition's no-confidence motion against Modi government on Manipur ethnic conflict in Aug 2023 when he let his now deputy Gaurav Gogoi to initiate, and himself spoke later. But Tharoor skipping the debate would set the tongues wagging, as the Thiruvananthapuram MP has had run-ins with the party since he defied Congress to lead a delegation constituted by Modi government for the global outreach on the India-Pakistan conflict. As Tharoor threw his weight behind the government on the issue of conflict and also on the pause of hostilities, there was a frequent to and fro between him and Congress members who were critical of the government.


Time of India
24 minutes ago
- Time of India
Kang becomes 1st in AAP to voice concern over Punjab's contentious land pooling policy
Chandigarh: Amid massive opposition to AAP govt's controversial land pooling policy in Punjab, AAP MP Malvinder Singh Kang on Sunday advised his party's supremo, Arvind Kejriwal, and Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann to hear "objections raised by farmer unions on the policy". In a post on X on Sunday evening, Kang, who is the first AAP leader to publicly voice his concerns regarding the controversial policy, said, "Govt should move forward only after taking farmers and our farmer unions into confidence through dialogue." He called on the state govt to listen to the farmers with empathy and address their issues through meaningful dialogue. "My suggestion to @ArvindKejriwal ji and @BhagwantMann ji is that our govt has done a lot for the betterment of farmers in the last three years, such as ensuring uninterrupted power supply for agriculture, aiming to deliver canal water to every field, expediting mandi reforms, and promoting crop diversification, among other efforts. On this policy too, govt should move forward only after taking farmers and our farmer unions into confidence through dialogue," he said. Kang, who put out the post in both Punjabi and English, said, "On this too, trust must be earned – not assumed – before any policy takes root." The AAP govt in Punjab, led by Mann, has been facing criticism from opposition parties, farm unions, and farmers ever since it proposed the land pooling policy. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Treatment That Might Help You Against Knee Pain Knee pain | search ads Find Now Undo Under the policy, state govt plans to acquire more than 40,000 acres of land across the state for housing and industrial projects, promising residential and commercial plots of varied dimensions, depending on the contribution of land parcels by them, for the contributing landowners in the developed projects. All three main opposition parties in Punjab, the Congress, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), and the BJP, have been opposing the scheme, calling it a "land grabbing" scheme. Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar even termed it a "Ponzi scheme," even as the ruling AAP claimed it to be aimed at planned urbanisation in the state. Facing criticism over the policy, the AAP-led govt, after a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, approved a number of amendments to the policy. These amendments included annual compensation to the landowners, extending residential and commercial plot allotments to farmers with smaller landholdings, and issuing letters offering residential and commercial plots in a time-bound manner. The amendments aimed to allay the concerns of the farmers. However, criticism of the policy continued, with Kisan Mazdoor Morcha announcing protests against the policy on Wednesday. Opposing the policy, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) also demanded its rollback. |


Time of India
35 minutes ago
- Time of India
New self-confidence in India post Sindoor: PM Modi before Parliament debate
GANGAIKONDA CHOLAPURAM/NEW DELHI: A day ahead of the parliamentary debate on the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor , PM Narendra Modi on Sunday reasserted that the precision strikes on terror dens in Pakistan was India's message that there are no safe havens for terrorists and their masters. India places the highest priority on its national security and the operation has created a new awakening and a new self-confidence across the country, Modi said at an event in Tamil Nadu's Gangaikonda Cholapuram to honour Chola emperor Rajendra Chola. The world witnessed India's firm and decisive response to the threat against its sovereignty during Operation Sindoor and it has sent a clear message, there is no safe haven for terrorists and enemies of the nation, he said, setting the tone for the govt's response for the debate in Parliament, starting in Lok Sabha on Monday. Oppn plans to point to big terror attacks under 'PM Modi's watch' The upcoming discussion in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on the attack and the operation comes as a significant opportunity for the govt to reaffirm its strong stance on national security and counter-terrorism. The debate - after a first week of disruption of Parliament's Monsoon session - is likely to be a fiery one between the ruling alliance and the opposition as they prepare to lock horns over the issues steeped in national security and foreign policy imperatives. The two sides have consented to a marathon 16-hour debate in each House, which invariably stretches longer in practice. Union defence minister Rajnath Singh is likely to initiate the debate immediately after the question hour in Lok Sabha. Sources said home minister Amit Shah, defence minister Rajnath Singh, and external affairs minister S Jaishankar will be speaking on the issues amid indications that the PM may make an intervention to convey his govt's "robust" stand against terrorism . Leaders of opposition in LS and RS - Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge - may lead the charge against the govt along with Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav, besides a host of others. Congress , however, plans to attack the govt and particularly PM Modi on what BJP has claimed to be their calling card over a decade, and have used incessantly to target Congress over national security. More than Operation Sindoor, the opposition would be looking to hammer home that the country has been extremely unsafe from cross border threats, pointing to repeated big terror attacks under Modi's watch, from Uri to Pahalgam. This will also put Shah in the oppositions crosshairs. It is here that the opposition plans to undercut Modi's claim on national security. As has been seen since the terror attack, Congress and opposition have been pointing to the fact that the terrorists singled out the tourists by religion to execute them - a point that the opposition would have been reluctant to touch in the past for fear of polarisation. Congress ahead of the debate raised the issue of US President Donald Trump's claims of halting Operation Sindoor. Party leader Jairam Ramesh on Sunday said since May 10, Trump has claimed "26 times" that he stopped the operation by "threatening to cut off trade with India, and claimed that five fighter jets may have been shot down". Ramesh on X said "even though Congress had been demanding a special two-day session of Parliament immediately after Operation Sindoor was abruptly halted that demand was ignored. "Nevertheless, better late than never," he said.