The Lok Sabha was adjourned on Thursday as opposition protests over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar showed no signs of abating, marking the fourth consecutive day of disruption in Parliament’s Monsoon Session. It was first adjourned within minutes of reconvening as Opposition protests continued unabated.
The session began with the Opposition storming into the Well of the House, waving placards and shouting slogans, demanding an immediate discussion on what they describe as “mass voter disenfranchisement” in Bihar. Speaker Om Birla repeatedly appealed for order, stressing that placard-waving and sloganeering inside Parliament were “unparliamentary” and warned that continued disruption would compel him to take “decisive action.” Despite his appeals, the House was adjourned within seven minutes, reported PTI.
Senior Congress MP K.C. Venugopal was called out by name by the Speaker, who remarked that such protests were not in line with the culture of his party. “What message are we sending to the country?” Birla asked, questioning the optics of the chaos in the House.
Adjournment in the Rajya Sabha:
The Rajya Sabha too witnessed similar disruptions on Thursday morning. Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan rejected 267 notices submitted by opposition MPs seeking urgent discussions on multiple issues, including the SIR, air safety, and alleged discrimination against Bengali migrant workers. Despite his appeal for calm, as the House was scheduled to bid farewell to retiring members, protests continued and proceedings were adjourned, as reported by The Hindu Bureau.
Congress MP Manickam Tagore submitted an adjournment motion in the Lok Sabha earlier in the day, calling the voter deletions a “national emergency for democracy.” The motion, filed under Rule 56, alleges that over 52 lakh names were removed from Bihar’s rolls, disproportionately impacting Dalits, Adivasis, and the poor. “This is institutional voter cleansing rooted in a dangerous Manuwadi ideology,” he said in his notice, according to The Hindu.
The Business Advisory Committee of the Rajya Sabha has agreed to a 16-hour debate next week on Operation Sindoor and the Pahalgam attack, possibly easing that portion of the impasse, as reported by The Hindu.
Despite key legislations like the Scheduled Tribes Reservation Bill for Goa and the Merchant Shipping Bill being on the agenda for Thursday, the House could not transact business due to continued chaos. The Monsoon Session is scheduled to run until August 21.
