Parliament’s Upper House was once again rendered dysfunctional on Wednesday, as vociferous protests by Opposition members over the revision of electoral rolls in Bihar brought proceedings to a grinding halt.
The Rajya Sabha faced three successive adjournments, culminating in an early end to the day’s sitting, with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls emerging as the central point of confrontation between the Treasury and Opposition benches.
The day began with a brief sitting at 11 a.m., only to be disrupted within minutes as members from various Opposition parties rose in protest. They demanded an urgent discussion on the implications and alleged irregularities surrounding the SIR exercise in Bihar. A second adjournment followed shortly after noon.
When the House reconvened at 2 p.m., Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal attempted to move The Carriage of Goods by Sea Bill, 2025 for discussion and passage. However, the House plunged into chaos once again, as protesting MPs stormed the Well and raised slogans against the voter list revision.
Several members insisted that Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge be allowed to speak on the matter. The Chair, presided over by Bhubaneswar Kalita, made repeated appeals for order, but to no avail. As disruptions persisted, the House was adjourned for the day.
Earlier, Deputy Chairman Harivansh had informed members that he had received 25 notices under Rule 267. These included demands for discussions not only on the SIR, but also on the demolition of slums in Delhi, alleged discrimination against migrant workers from West Bengal, and air safety concerns.
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Rejecting all the notices, Harivansh’s decision sparked a wave of uproar. Opposition MPs broke into sloganeering, ignoring pleas to restore decorum. In the midst of the ruckus, he urged the House to allow MDMK’s Vaiko to raise his Zero Hour mention, noting that his Rajya Sabha tenure was drawing to a close on 24 July.
Despite the commotion, Vaiko managed to voice concern over the repeated arrest of Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy. The issue, however, was soon drowned out by renewed demands from the Opposition for a discussion on the electoral list revisions.
When the House reassembled post-lunch, the effort to resume legislative business was once again thwarted. As soon as CPI’s Sandosh Kumar P was called to raise his supplementary question during Question Hour, he instead chose to highlight the SIR issue. This led to another eruption of protest.
Ghanshyam Tiwari, who occupied the Chair during the noon session, tried to conduct Question Hour amid sloganeering, but his appeals were ignored. Consequently, proceedings were halted once more.
The deadlock marks the second consecutive day that the Upper House has failed to conduct substantive business. On Tuesday too, multiple adjournments were necessitated, largely over the same issue.
With the monsoon session entering a critical phase, the continued impasse has cast a shadow over the legislative agenda. While the government insists on moving forward with scheduled Bills, the Opposition appears determined to press for a full-fledged debate on what it alleges is a politically motivated revision of electoral rolls in Bihar.
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