Parliament sees ‘dustbin’ protest, smooth functioning likely from Monday
Opposition leaders held an unusual protest in Parliament with dustbins over the voter list revision exercise in Bihar even as consensus was reached on the smooth functioning of the Lok Sabha from Monday, sources said.
The government and the opposition, which has been protesting over several issues, ironed out their differences at an all-party meeting chaired by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
OPPOSITION, GOVERNMENT REACH CONSENSUS
With the Lok Sabha failing to transact any meaningful business on the first five days of the Monsoon session, Birla urged the opposition leaders to have meaningful discussions while maintaining decorum during Question Hour.
While the sudden resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar as Vice President on Monday caused a momentary flutter, the last couple of days saw opposition parties ratcheting up their protests over the electoral roll revision in Bihar and a demand for a discussion over Operation Sindoor.
The government has, however, agreed to hold a discussion on Operation Sindoor, the three-day hostilities with Pakistan in May in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack. Both the Houses have been allotted 16 hours for a special discussion on the operation.
However, sparks are set to fly, with the opposition likely to corner the government over US President Donald Trump’s repeated claims that he mediated the ceasefire with Pakistan and the threat of cutting off trade ended the hostilities.
India has rejected his claims, saying the ceasefire was forged directly with Pakistan.
‘DUSTBIN’ PROTEST IN PARLIAMENT
Despite consensus being reached on the smooth functioning of the House, the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar remains a sticking point.
On Friday, opposition leaders, including Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, held a unique protest with dustbins over the exercise. The MPs were seen tearing posters with ‘SIR’ written on them and putting them in the bins.
The MPs demanded a rollback of the exercise, which the government has defended as necessary to ensure that only genuine citizens are enrolled as voters.
However, government sources have ruled out a discussion on the voter roll revision, saying the exercise was solely being carried out by the Election Commission.
