INDIA bloc leaders meet in Kharge's chamber; resolve to raise MGNREGA, SIR strongly in Parliament
New Delhi (PTI): Floor leaders of several INDIA bloc parties held a meeting in Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge's chamber in Parliament House complex here on Wednesday, with sources saying they have resolved to raise the issue of MGNREGA repeal and SIR strongly during the Budget session.
Besides Kharge, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, AICC general secretaries Jairam Ramesh and K C Venugopal, DMK's TR Baalu, Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Arvind Sawant, Samajwadi Party's Javed Ali Khan, RJD's Premchand Gupta, CPI(M)'s John Brittas, RSP's N K Premchandran, among others, attended the meeting.
Sources said the leaders discussed the opposition's strategy for the Budget session and vowed to raise the MGNREGA repeal strongly.
The meeting comes a day after top Congress leaders decided to raise in Parliament's Budget session issues concerning MGNREGA and SIR despite the government's refusal to debate them again.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the party's parliamentary strategy group held on Tuesday at the residence of Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi where the Leaders of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Rahul Gandhi and Kharge, were also present.
PHOTO | A meeting of the INDIA bloc floor leaders was held at the Parliament House Complex. The meeting was attended by Congress President and Rajya Sabha Leader of the Opposition, Mallikarjun Kharge, Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, and several Members of… pic.twitter.com/fLOxDBLZ5f
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UP SIR: Over 84 lakh voters added in final list, total electorate rises to 13.39 crore
Lucknow (PTI): Uttar Pradesh's electorate grew by over 84 lakh to 13.39 crore after the completion of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), according to the final voter list published on Friday.
Addressing a press conference at the Lok Bhawan Media Centre here, Uttar Pradesh's Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa said the SIR exercise was conducted from October 27, 2025, to April 10, 2026, covering all 75 districts, 403 assembly constituencies and polling stations across the state.
He said the 166-day exercise was carried out with the contribution of 75 District Election Officers (DEOs), 403 Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), 12,758 Assistant EROs, 18,026 BLO supervisors and 1,77,516 Booth Level Officers (BLOs). In addition, 5,82,877 booth-level agents of recognised political parties and crores of voters extended cooperation.
Print, electronic and digital media also played a key role in awareness efforts, he added.
Rinwa said the draft electoral roll published on January 6, 2026, had a total of 12,55,56,025 voters, including 6.88 crore male voters, 5.67 crore female voters and 4,119 third gender voters.
The number of voters in the 18-19 age group stood at 3,33,981, while the gender ratio was 824 female voters per 1,000 male voters.
The final electoral roll published on April 10 shows the total number of voters at 13,39,84,792, he said.
Of these, male voters number 7,30,71,071 (around 54 per cent), female voters 6,09,09,525 (45.46 per cent) and third gender voters 4,206 (less than 0.01 per cent).
The number of voters in the 18-19 age group has risen to 17,63,360, accounting for 1.32 per cent of the total electorate. The gender ratio has also improved to 834 female voters per 1,000 male voters.
Comparing the draft and final rolls, Rinwa said the total increase in the number of voters is 84,28,767. This includes an increase of 42,27,902 male voters, 42,00,778 female voters and 87 third gender voters.
The 18-19 age group registered a rise of 14,29,379 voters, while the gender ratio improved by 10 points from 824 to 834, he said.
Among districts, Prayagraj recorded the highest increase in voters at 3,29,421, followed by Lucknow at 2,85,961, Bareilly at over 2,57,000, Ghaziabad at 2,43,666 and Jaunpur at 2,37,590.
The CEO said the successful completion of the revision exercise reflects coordinated efforts by election officials, political parties and voters across the state.
