Lok Sabha adjourns till 2 pm amid Opposition protests over SIR
New Delhi (PTI): Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned till 2 pm on Monday amid Opposition protests demanding a discussion on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The first day of the Winter Session, which will have 15 sittings, saw two adjournments till 2 pm. The proceedings went on for around 12 minutes after the House reconvened at 12 noon following an earlier adjournment.
Several Opposition members trooped into the Well shouting slogans and protesting over SIR, as they have been demanding a debate on the issue.
During the 12 minutes of the Zero Hour, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced three bills besides tabling supplementary demands for grants for 2025-2026.
Two bills to levy excise duty on tobacco and tobacco products, as well as a new cess on the manufacture of pan masala, were introduced. They are the Central Excise (Amendment) Bill, 2025, and the Health Security and National Security Cess Bill, 2025.
The Manipur Goods and Services Tax (Second Amendment) Bill, 2025, was also introduced by the finance minister. Earlier, the government had come out with an ordinance on the Manipur GST as the state is under President's Rule.
With the Opposition members continuing with their protests, the House was adjourned till 2 pm.
Opposition leaders, while emerging from an all-party meeting on Sunday, said they will press for a debate on SIR.
The Election Commission had announced SIR in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
Among these, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, and West Bengal will go to the polls in 2026. In Assam, where polls are also due in 2026, the revision of electoral rolls was announced separately. It is being called 'Special Revision'.
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BJP aims not to erase Nehru, but to destroy him: Sonia Gandhi
New Delhi: Congress leader Sonia Gandhi has alleged that the BJP’s objective is not merely to erase Jawaharlal Nehru, but to destroy his legacy and the foundational values on which the nation stands.
Speaking at the Nehru Centre India event held at Jawahar Bhawan, Gandhi said that while analysis and criticism of Nehru’s contributions are welcome, deliberately twisting his words and writings is unacceptable.
Without naming the BJP or RSS directly, she said it is evident that the primary goal of the current administration is to blame Nehru for everything. According to her, the intention is not only to wipe out Nehru’s memory but to dismantle the social, political, and economic foundation of India itself.
Her remarks come days after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh stirred controversy by claiming that Nehru wanted to use public funds to construct the Babri Masjid, a move he said was stopped by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The Congress has dismissed Singh’s claim as false and accused him of attempting to fuel polarization.
Gandhi further stated that those attacking Nehru today had no role in the freedom struggle nor in the drafting of the Constitution. She added that the ideology behind these attacks had long cultivated an atmosphere of hatred, culminating in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. Yet today, she said, the followers of Gandhi’s killers continue to glorify them.
While acknowledging that it is natural to analyze and critique the life of such a towering figure, she asserted that systematic attempts to rewrite history and tarnish Nehru’s legacy for narrow political motives cannot be accepted.
