RS fixes Vande Mataram, SIR discussions for next week at multi-party meet
NEW DELHI: The Rajya Sabha will take up two major debates next week one marking the 150th anniversary of the composition of Vande Mataram and the other on electoral reforms, including the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls. A meeting of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC), chaired by Chairperson C P Radhakrishnan and attended by floor leaders of several parties, finalised the schedule on Wednesday evening. According to sources, the BAC decided to hold the Vande Mataram debate on Tuesday and take up electoral reforms on Wednesday or Thursday, once the Lok Sabha completes its own debate. Each debate has been allotted ten hours. In the Lok Sabha, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said that the lower House will take up the Vande Mataram debate on Monday and the discussion on electoral reforms on Tuesday. These decisions were taken after an all-party meeting and a BAC meeting chaired by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. The move signals that the logjam over the Oppositions demand to discuss the SIR of voter rolls may finally be easing, after repeated disruptions since the Winter Session began on December 1. Opposition MPs said they plan to raise concerns about the ongoing SIR in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal, as well as the reported suicides of booth-level officers and highlight the inhuman workload and coercive pressure on these officials. Opposition leaders are viewing the BAC okaying the debates as a victory, claiming the government had climbed down from its earlier stance. They said the role of the Election Commission will be examined, amid allegations of vote theft and manipulation of electoral rolls charges the EC has repeatedly denied. Rijiju told reporters that the SIR is an administrative exercise of the EC, adding that the government looks forward to a constructive and engaging discussion.
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