Bihar SIR: Parliament Stalemate Continues As Govt Remains Non-Committal on Opp's Demands

The Wire

25-07-2025

New Delhi: The first week of the monsoon session ended in a washout on Friday as the stalemate between the government and the opposition over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar continued.
The opposition has been demanding a discussion on, among other issues, the Election Commission of India's exercise in Bihar, but the government has remained non-committal over whether a discussion will be held on the issue in the coming week.
Following a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC), Union minister for parliamentary affairs Kiren Rijiju said that the government has agreed to the opposition's demand for a discussion on the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor, to be held on Monday and Tuesday in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha respectively, for 16 hours each. However, he did not specify whether the opposition's demand for a discussion on the SIR will be taken up.
"I have said this in the BAC today that first a discussion will be held on Operation Sindoor as was demanded by the opposition. After that other issues will be decided. Every discussion cannot happen at the same time. Discussions can happen under rules. We have met both the leaders of opposition in both houses. We want parliament to function smoothly. And this is my appeal again,' he said.
Earlier on Friday, members of the opposition INDIA bloc held a protest against the SIR exercise for the fourth consecutive day. Opposition members marched holding banners and placards from the Gandhi statue to the Makar Dwar on parliament premises. They placed a bin in front of the Makar Dwar, in which parliamentarians – including leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi – threw torn pieces of paper that read SIR as a symbolic protest denouncing the exercise.
As protests continued inside the house, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla called a meeting of all floor leaders to end the impasse. Sources said that in the meeting, the government remained non-committal on holding a discussion on the Bihar SIR. The Wire has learnt that while there have been questions raised about under which rule the discussion can be held, opposition members said that a general discussion could be conducted which would allow everyone to place their views on the matter in the house.
While the BAC has earlier this week agreed to the opposition's demand for a discussion on the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor, for which 16 hours has been allotted in each house, the opposition has said that the discussion should take place in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The discussions are now scheduled for July 28 and 29, while the opposition continues staging protests demanding a discussion on the Bihar SIR.
'After Tuesday, the opposition did not say anything about Pahalgam because we knew that the discussion cannot take place this week as the prime minister is abroad. Since then we have had only one demand – a discussion on the SIR. After one week, the Lok Sabha Speaker called all parties for a meeting, but even after this, we have not found out anything new. Even after the meeting the government is not stating clearly whether it will discuss the issue in the House or not,' said Congress' deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi to reporters outside parliament.
Inside the house, the government has maintained that it is 'ready' for all discussions under relevant rules but resorted to repeated adjournments and did not say anything about the opposition's demand for a discussion on the SIR.
When the Lok Sabha reconvened at 2 pm after being adjourned in the morning, Bharatiya Janata Party MP Jagdambika Pal invited members to table committee reports and then spoke for about ten minutes on the need for members to maintain decorum in the house. While he urged members to allow the house to function amid opposition protests, no opposition member was allowed to speak. Pal also did not say anything on the demand for a discussion on the SIR.
'I urge you to reflect personally that who benefits from this disruption? Who is gaining from this commotion? The people, who elected you and sent you to this House, certainly do not benefit from this disruption. The public sent you here to raise their concerns and speak about their hardships,' he said.
Pal said that when the members return to their constituencies over the weekend, they would be asked what they did in parliament and asked them to introspect.
'When the government is saying both inside and outside the house that it is ready for a discussion on all issues under the rules, then why are you disrupting [parliament]? What is the reason for this disruption? You want answers from the government, [it] is ready. I am saying,' he said and then asked Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal to respond.
Meghwal then rose and said the discussions should be held and the government is 'ready'. Pal then adjourned the house for the day.
In the Rajya Sabha too, while new members took oath in the morning, the House was adjourned after adjournment notices demanding a discussion on the Bihar SIR and discrimination against Bengali-speaking migrant workers, among others, were rejected. When the House reconvened at noon, the question hour began but house proceedings were adjourned for the day within four minutes.