The Indian government on Tuesday reached a crucial agreement with opposition parties, agreeing to hold a parliamentary debate on the contentious Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. This breakthrough averted the grim prospect of another parliamentary session being washed out due to disruptions.
Deal Struck to End Parliamentary Logjam
The agreement was finalized at a meeting of floor leaders from all parties with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. The debate will be held under the broader subject of 'election reforms' on December 9. However, the government prevailed in its request to first hold a special discussion on 'Vande Mataram' in the Lok Sabha on December 8, marking the 150th anniversary of India's national song.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju announced that 10 hours each have been allotted for the two debates, with a possibility of extension. Sources indicated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to initiate the discussion on Vande Mataram, a subject intrinsic to the ruling BJP's cultural agenda.
Opposition's 'Vote Chori' Charge vs Govt's 'Infiltrators' Accusation
While the debate will officially be under the anodyne heading of electoral reforms, the discussion is expected to focus intensely on the ongoing SIR. This will pit the opposition's allegations of 'vote chori' (vote theft) against the governing side's accusation that opposition parties are 'protecting infiltrators for vote bank considerations.'
The opposition, led by the Congress, has been up in arms against the SIR process currently underway in 12 states and Union Territories, including West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. They allege the process has led to suicides by Booth Level Officers (BLOs) due to excessive workload and is aimed at deleting votes of targeted population segments.
Walkouts and Accusations Before the Agreement
The path to the agreement was rocky. Opposition parties staged a walkout from the Rajya Sabha earlier after Rijiju conveyed the government's willingness for a discussion but offered no specific timing and proposed taking up the Vande Mataram debate first.
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, jabbed the government, stating, "Vande Mataram comes from us not from them," to which Chairman C P Radhakrishnan promptly replied, "Vande Mataram is for everyone."
Congress claimed the agreement as a victory, with its chief whip in Lok Sabha, Manickam Tagore, stating the government's "arrogance had finally bowed to the unity of opposition parties." He reminded that one full Monsoon Session was washed out and two days of the Winter Session were already wasted due to the impasse.
Minister Rijiju, however, blamed the opposition's rigid insistence on a debate specifically on SIR for the logjam. He clarified that while SIR is an administrative function of the autonomous Election Commission and cannot be discussed in Parliament, the legislature can always debate the wider agenda of election reforms.
The political context for this clash is significant. The ruling NDA's morale is high after a major victory in Bihar, where the Congress-RJD-Left coalition, which had strongly opposed SIR in its campaign, suffered one of its worst defeats. Rahul Gandhi had led a long yatra alleging a BJP-EC nexus for 'vote chori,' a charge that failed to gain sufficient electoral traction in the state.
