Oppn MPs protest against SIR

 

 

SEVERAL Opposition leaders, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, on Tuesday staged a protest in the Parliament House complex against the SIR and demanded a discussion on electoral reforms. Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Modi over the issue, saying the PM states that Parliament belongs to the people of India, but he constantly “shies away” from discussing important issues related to people’s welfare.

 

“Whatcouldbeabiggerpublic issue in a democracy than voting rights?” Gandhi said in a Facebook post in Hindi after the protest. Noting that the INDIA bloc held a strong protest outside Parliament House against the SIR, Gandhi said the Opposition demands that a serious discussion on the SIR should takeplaceinParliament toprotect theConstitution and democracy.

 

“Every citizen’s rights are vested in the vote, and the SIR is clearly a weapon to cut the votes of the country’s poor and Bahujancommunityandmake elections one-sided,” the former Congress chief said. Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who alsoparticipatedin theprotest, alleged that theNarendraModi Government and the Election Commissionwere togetherexecuting ‘vote theft’ through the SIR.

 

“This is an organised attempt to strip the voting rights of our millions of Dalit, backward, tribal, anddeprived brothers and sisters. Despite all the questions being raised, theElectionCommissionisnot answering any of them, and the Government is openly defending the Commission,” she said in a post in Hindi on X after the protest.