New Delhi, 2 December (H.S.): Leaders of the opposition INDIA alliance, led by the Congress party, staged a protest outside the Parliament building on Tuesday morning against the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls. The demonstration came just before proceedings began on the second day of the Parliament’s Winter Session.
Prominent leaders including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, general secretary K. C. Venugopal, deputy leader in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi, and senior party leader Pramod Tiwari joined the protest. Several other senior leaders from allied parties of the INDIA bloc also participated.
The protesting leaders stood in a line outside Parliament, holding placards and banners bearing messages such as “Stop SIR, Save Democracy,” “End SIR, Stop Voter Deletion,” and “SIR is a Crime Against Democracy.” Some posters also read, “Dalit, OBC, and Tribal Votes Are Not for Erasure.”
The crowd repeatedly chanted slogans like “Shut Down SIR!”Since the initiation of the SIR process, the Congress and other INDIA bloc members have accused the Election Commission and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party of attempting to delete the core voter base of opposition parties through selective scrutiny of voter lists.
Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
