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The Opposition and Treasury benches went caput to caput connected the peculiar intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, arsenic the Lok Sabha discussed electoral reforms for the 2nd time connected Wednesday (December 10, 2025).
In a no-holds-barred onslaught against the government, Congress MP K.C. Venugopal asked wherefore the Chief Justice of India (CJI) had been removed from the process to prime the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and the different Election Commissioners (ECs).
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Referring to a Supreme Court judgement by a seat headed by now-retired justice K.M. Joseph, which said the enactment committee should see the Prime Minister, the CJI, and the Leader of Opposition (LoP) successful the Lok Sabha until a instrumentality is framed, Mr. Venugopal said the apical court’s volition was to guarantee escaped and just elections.
“You didn’t privation the Chief Justice successful that committee, that’s wherefore you enacted a instrumentality to region him,” helium said. “The thought of an impartial electoral umpire has been replaced now, and it has present openly collapsed nether governmental unit and has go partisan. The close to ballot is not a mercy from the government; it is simply a cardinal rule of democracy,” helium added.
Suspicious elector deletions
The Congress person besides questioned the governmental neutrality of the Election Commission of India (ECI), citing the canvass panel’s nonaccomplishment to halt currency transfers by the Bihar authorities successful the midst of elections. “Why is the ECI acting arsenic an cause of the ruling party?” helium asked.
Terming alleged ballot chori (theft) arsenic an enactment against the nation, Mr. Venugopal said: “Instead of preventing it, our ECI is enabling it.”
He besides referred to The Hindu’s information investigation of elector deletions from the draught electoral rolls successful Bihar nether the SIR exercise, which showed an “unusually precocious proportion” of deaths among younger voters, mostly nether the property of 50, crossed 80 Assembly segments.
Speaking for BLOs
The Congress MP, who informed the House that helium is simply a petitioner against the SIR process successful the Supreme Court, besides raised the contented of suicides by booth-level officers (BLOs). “Who volition reply to the families of the BLOs who died by suicide?” helium asked.
Speaking aft him, elder BJP person and erstwhile Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said parliamentary norms demanded that Mr. Venugopal should not person spoken successful the House arsenic helium is simply a petitioner successful the SIR case. “I would impulse the Chair to analyse the substance and if it deems fit, get his observations deleted from the records,” Mr. Prasad said.
‘No instrumentality to ballot papers’
Countering Mr. Venugopal connected the contented of appointments, the BJP person said that erstwhile an elected authorities headed by the Prime Minister tin beryllium trusted with the atomic button, “why can’t it beryllium the lawsuit erstwhile selecting a bully CEC oregon EC”.
Mr. Prasad besides powerfully argued against Opposition demands of returning to ballot papers successful elections, saying it would mean “going backmost to the days of booth capturing”. Opposition leaders, including Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav, had demanded a instrumentality to ballot papers and stopping the SIR exercise.
BJP MP Kangana Ranaut added that the Prime Minister did not hack physics voting machines (EVMs), but the hearts of the voters.
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen MP Asaduddin Owaisi said the SIR workout was thing but a “backdoor NRC”, referring to the National Register of Citizens. It was a “malafide exercise” of powerfulness to selectively disenfranchise radical connected the ground of religion, helium said.
