31 July,2025 06:20 PM IST | New Delhi | mid-day online correspondent
Congress MPs Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Awadhesh Prasad and other parliamentarians of the INDIA bloc parties stage a protest against the Election Commission`s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, during the Monsoon session of Parliament, in New Delhi. Pic/PTI
The Rajya Sabha was adjourned until 4:30 pm on Thursday following an uproar by Opposition parties. They were protesting the absence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a debate on "Operation Sindoor" and also raised the issue of Special Intensive Revision (SIR), as reported by news agency PTI.
The Upper House had already been adjourned twice earlier in the day: first from 11 AM to 12 noon, and then until 2 PM, due to protests from Opposition Members of Parliament.
When the House reconvened at 2 PM, Opposition members immediately rose to their feet, chanting slogans against the SIR and demanding that the Prime Minister attend the session.
Sambit Patra, who was in the Chair, allowed Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge to speak.
Kharge referred to a statement made by Leader of the House JP Nadda in the morning session. Nadda had argued that in 2008, following the Mumbai terror attacks, the then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did not respond to a Rajya Sabha debate, with the reply being delivered by the then-Home Minister instead, PTI reported.
However, Kharge clarified that the Opposition's current objection was specifically to a remark made by the Home Minister. The Leader of the Opposition stated that the Home Minister had said, "I can handle you myself," which Kharge felt was an insult to all of them. "We said the Prime Minister is here, please call him to the House," Kharge explained.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju responded, noting that Opposition MPs had been chanting slogans for the Prime Minister to come to the House. This comment, in turn, triggered an uproar from Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs.
"The behaviour of TMC MPs is not right... The way Derek O'Brien is behaving is not right," Rijiju said.
The Parliamentary Affairs Minister pointed out that Prime Minister Modi had already replied to the debate in the Lok Sabha for one hour and 42 minutes on Tuesday. "They are saying the Prime Minister should reply. He spoke for one hour and 42 minutes in the Lok Sabha just a day before... He presented all the facts to the nation through the House. The Home Minister is capable of replying to the debate," Rijiju asserted.
He also added that the government operates under a principle of collective responsibility and that the Opposition does not have the authority to dictate who will speak, PTI reported.
As Rijiju concluded his statement, Opposition MPs continued to shout slogans against SIR. The Chair then adjourned the House until 4:30 PM.
(With inputs from PTI)
