Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India], December 4 : Former Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh and Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel met with the party high command in Delhi, including Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, and MPs Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, as the Centre agreed to discuss the Special Intensive Revision of the electoral roll in Parliament.
Chhattisgarh is among the 12 States and Union Territories undergoing the SIR exercise in Phase II.
Speaking to reporters in Raipur on Wednesday, Baghel said that the government had to bow down and agree to discuss the issue in the Parliament.
He said, "In Delhi, a meeting took place with Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, and all the leaders. Given the atmosphere against SIR across the entire country, ultimately, the government had to bow down, and the government has now agreed to discuss in Parliament. If this had happened earlier, these 2 days would not have been wasted. The government is responsible for this."
This comes as Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, earlier, informed that during the All Party Meeting Chaired by Lok Sabha Speaker, it was decided to hold a discussion in Lok Sabha on the 150th Anniversary of the National Song 'Vande Mataram' on December 8 and a discussion on election reforms on December 9.
Centre agreed to discuss amid a lockjam in the Lower House following the Opposition's protest over the SIR exercise on the first two days of the Winter Session.
Phase-II of the exercise is going on across nine States, namely Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal and three UTs, namely Andaman and Nicobar, Lakshadweep and Puducherry, spanning 321 districts and 1,843 Assembly Constituencies (ACs).
Phase-I of the SIR was conducted in Bihar ahead of the Assembly election.