Govt: Will First Take Up Vande Mataram

Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju.

SIR to be discussed later, Centre tells Oppn

New Delhi: The government on Tuesday December 2, 2025 informed that Parliament would take up a discussion on electoral reforms amidst the Opposition’s vociferous demand for a discussion on the special intensive revision issue. The Opposition parties had made it clear that they wanted a discussion on the ongoing SIR of electoral rolls in 12 states and UTs, and the government can decide whatever nomenclature it wants to use for the debate.

Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju informed that a discussion on the election reforms will take place in the Lok Sabha on December 9. He said the House will take up a discussion on the 150th anniversary of the national song Vande Mataram on December 8, which will be initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

During the all party meeting chaired by Speaker Lok Sabha, it has been decided to hold discussion in Lok Sabha on 150th anniversary of National Song Vande Mataram from 12 noon on December 8, and a on election reforms from 12 noon on December 9, Rijiju posted on X.

The decision was taken after an all-party meeting and a business advisory committee (BAC) chaired by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, signalling that the logjam prevailing in both Houses will likely end.

On Tuesday, both Houses witnessed multiple adjournments on the SIR issue for the second consecutive day as the Opposition members kept raising their demand for an “immediate discussion” on the SIR.

In the Lok Sabha, relentless protest by the Opposition on the SIR issue led to repeated adjournments. After two adjournments earlier in the day, the House met again at 2 pm amid sloganeering by the Opposition members. The House was adjourned in less than six minutes amidst protests.

BJP MP Dilip Saikia, who was presiding over the House, urged the Opposition to allow the House to function, as the government is willing to discuss the ongoing SIR. He reminded the members that the SIR exercise has already been completed in Bihar and results are evident.

The Central Excise (Amendment) Bill 2025 was listed for consideration and passage in Lok Sabha but could not be taken up due to disruption.

Earlier, various papers and standing committees’ reports were laid on the table of the House before the Zero Hour, which went on for around 10 minutes.

Members of the Congress and some other Opposition parties kept protesting and shouting slogans against the SIR of electoral rolls, an issue on which they have been demanding an immediate discussion.

The parliamentary affairs minister told the protesting members that they should protect the decorum of the House and there are many members from different parties who should also be heard.

“Disrupting the proceedings by members of a few parties is not right, and also anger at losing elections should not be shown in the House,” Rijiju said and mentioned that even late BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee had lost elections.

While taking a jibe at the Congress on recent electoral losses, Rijiju said they are losing the confidence of the people. The government is ready to discuss issues, he asserted.

As the din continued, the proceedings were adjourned within 10 minutes till 2 pm. In the Rajya Sabha, Rijiju expressed willingness to discuss the SIR issue but maintained that the Opposition cannot dictate the timeline for the debate.

The House earlier saw the Opposition MPs protesting after Chairman C.P. Radhakrishnan rejected their notices under Rule 267, citing failure to meet procedural requirements.

Leading the Oppositions’ charge, Leader of the Opposition and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said nearly 28 people had died during the SIR exercise and Parliament should immediately discuss the issue.

He also raised procedural concerns, stating that the tradition of reading out the names and subjects of notices given under Rule 267 was not being followed. “People are dying…and SIR is going fast… This is an urgent matter. To save democracy… I want discussion to take place now only in the interest of democracy, in the interest of citizens and in the interest of the country,” he said.

The Congress president also complained about the Chair’s attention being directed only toward the Treasury Benches. The House also witnessed a brief exchange of words between Mr Kharge and the Chair.

To this, Leader of the House J.P. Nadda said the parliamentary affairs minister had indicated the previous day that he would return with a response.

Mr Rijiju said he will engage with Opposition leaders from different parties, both formally and informally, but requested that they should not impose “timeline conditions”. “In parliamentary democracy, we have to engage in dialogue… we have to engage in discussion.

There are many issues in the country. You should not undermine one issue and take up another issue. All the issues are important,” Rijiju said. The minister also took a swipe at the Opposition, saying, “You are not able to win elections, people do not trust you, and you are venting your anger in Parliament.

This is not right at all.” He added that while the government is ready for discussion, a meeting is necessary first.

When the House met at 2 pm after adjournment, the Opposition parties again demanded that discussion on SIR should be given priority over other business, while the parliamentary affairs minister stressed that the debate on the Vande Mataram will be taken up first.

As the government refused to give preference to the debate on SIR, the Opposition MPs raised slogans in the Upper House and later staged a walkout. Rijiju said a debate on Vande Mataram has been listed in the BAC meeting and will be taken up before the debate on “electoral reforms”.

“From the government side, we propose a discussion on further electoral reforms, which is related to the matter the Opposition parties have been demanding… My specific appeal is when the government is ready to take up the discussion, please do not put the condition that it has to take precedence over other matters. In the first BAC meeting, the government had proposed a discussion on the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram, which is already listed…” he said, adding that time for other matters will be decided in the next BAC meeting.

“Vande Mataram is a matter related to our freedom struggle. Matters related to electoral reforms are also extremely important. There may be many more issues that parties would like to raise in the House. However, considering that the Opposition parties have united to raise one issue, the government is ready to take up a discussion, but to have it before a discussion on Vande Mataram may not be appropriate,” he said.

Kharge said many parties have demanded a discussion under Rule 267, and it should get priority over other business. The Congress leader also said, “Vande Mataram comes from us, not from them.” Radhakrishnana, however, said, “Vande Mataram is for everyone.”