Opposition protests against SIR in Parliament complex
New Delhi (PTI): Several opposition MPs of INDIA bloc parties held a protest in the Parliament House complex on Monday against the Election Commission's voter roll revision in Bihar.
Led by Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, the MPs of INDIA bloc raised "vote chor, gaddi chhor" and "vote chori band karo" slogans.
They also held a big banner that read "Stop vote chori" and held posters demanding "stop SIR".
Leaders of Congress, TMC, DMK, Left parties and RJD and Samajwadi Party were seen holding posters and banners right outside the Makar Dwar of Parliament.
Some of the Samajwadi Party members also held copies of the affidavit given by their leader Akhilesh Yadav to the EC, accusing the Election Commission of deleting names of voters belonging to backward communities.
"The ECI cannot relinquish its Constitutional duty and evade genuine queries of political parties. The 'Right to Vote' is the most important right, given to us by the Constitution of India. INDIA will protest any attempt to stifle Democracy," Kharge said in a post on X while sharing a video of the opposition protest.
Kharge later also sought to raise the issue of SIR in the Rajya Sabha but was disallowed by the chair.
"The right to vote has been given to us by the Constitution, and no one has the right to take it away. The ECI is threatening and intimidating us, but we are not ones to be scared by their threats. We will keep fighting for democracy," he later said in another post.
Yadav, meanwhile, alleged that names of voters belonging to several backward groups, including the Maurya, Pal, Bhagel and Rathore communities, were being struck off the rolls to benefit the BJP.
"The truth is their votes are being deleted. The SP raised this issue earlier also, but it is important to understand that this is done deliberately to cut the votes of backward classes, while projecting that these votes are going elsewhere," the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said.
Yadav claimed his party had identified constituencies where they lost by a narrow margin and where voter deletions played a role.
"This is what we could identify in a short time. If we receive the voter lists in the format we want, we can provide more such cases. Votes cast in 2019 were deleted by 2022. There is also a proper procedure for creating a voter ID, but that is being ignored," he charged, while demanding strict action against erring officials.
Amid speculation that the opposition is mulling an impeachment motion against CEC Gyanesh Kumar, Congress leader Naseer Hussain told reporters they would use every democratic method to ensure that the Chief Election Commissioner should be a person who is "unbiased".
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.
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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).
