Patna (Bihar) [India], July 24 : Opposition leaders on Thursday held a protest in front of the Bihar Assembly over the issue of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise being carried out by the Election Commission of India (ECI) ahead of the state elections, to be held in later this year.
Bihar elections are expected to be held later this year in October or November; however, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has not announced an official date.
While the NDA, comprising the BJP, JD(U), and LJP, will once again seek to continue its stint in Bihar, the INDIA bloc, comprising the RJD, Congress, and left parties, will aim to unseat Nitish Kumar.
Meanwhile, in New Delhi, the Indian National Devlopmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc staged a protest outside the Parliament against the SIR issue for the fourth consecutive day.
The MPs gathered at Parliament Makar Dwar and called for a stop to the exercise.
The opposition parties have repeatedly called for a discussion in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha regarding the revision exercise, moving adjournment motions every day since the start of the monsoon session and alleging that manipulation of voter rolls is taking place under the guise of the SIR.
Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) MP Mahua Maji, Deputy Opposition Leader in the Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha, among other leaders, attended the protest.
Carrying a banner which read "SIR-Attack on Democracy," the MPs stood at Makar Dwar, demanding that the voter list revision be halted.
Earlier, Congress MP Manickam Tagore submitted an Adjournment Motion seeking discussion on the revision exercise, calling it an "act of mass disenfranchisement" which was nothing short of "institutional voter cleansing" orchestrated under the Modi Government.
Tagore further highlighted the SIR exercise as an attack on the legacy of Babasaheb BR Ambedkar, who "enshrined" universal adult franchise in the Constitution to empower citizens, irrespective of their caste, class or wealth.
Meanwhile, multiple party MPs in the Rajya Sabha have moved adjournment motions to discuss the issue.
Party leaders in the upper house, including Rajani Ashokrao Patil, Jebi Mather, Ranjeet Ranjan, Neeraj Dangi, and Akhilesh Prasad Singh, have called for the house to suspend Zero Hour and Question Hour on Thursday to discuss the Bihar SIR.
Rajani Ashokrao Patil, while submitting the letter, said that the actions of the poll panel have "sparked apprehensions about potential electoral manipulation."
Patil wrote in her letter, "To discuss the concerns arising out of the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Bihar ahead of elections, as well as reports of a similar exercise being planned in West Bengal and other states. These actions have sparked grave apprehensions about potential electoral manipulation, particularly in view of concerns that had emerged in Maharashtra during the 2024 legislative Assembly elections."