Opposition holds protest against SIR in Parliament complex
New Delhi (PTI): Opposition leaders on Tuesday stepped up their attack against the Election Commission over the voter roll revision in Bihar, with protesting MPs holding a huge banner carrying pictures of the election commissioners and raising slogans against the poll body.
The banner, which carried the picture of CEC Gyanesh Kumar and other two election commissioners in the panel Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, also had "vote chor" and the words 'Silent Invisible Rigging' written on them.
The protest in Parliament complex was led by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. He was accompanied by prominent opposition leaders and MPs, including Akhilesh Yadav and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Kharge later shared a video of their protest in Parliament in a post on X. "The Election Commission cannot run away from its constitutional responsibility. INDIA (bloc) has raised serious questions on Free & Fair Elections with evidence, which the Election Commission should answer by investigating and not by intimidating the opposition!" Kharge said in his post in Hindi.
"From the streets to the Parliament, the fight for voting rights continues," he also said.
The opposition has been protesting in both Houses of Parliament against the SIR, alleging that the EC's exercise is aimed at "disenfranchising voters" in Bihar ahead of the assembly elections due later this year. They have been demanding a discussion on the issue in both Houses.
Barring discussions on Operation Sindoor in the two Houses, Parliament has seen little business ever since the Monsoon session began on July 21 due to repeated adjournments, mostly over the SIR issue.
The opposition MPs have raised the pitch against the CEC and EC after they held a press conference on Sunday. The Opposition says the EC has not answered any of their queries raised.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
