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Opposition MPs protested in Delhi over ‘vote theft’ claims as Parliament passed eight Bills amid disruptions. Minister Kiren Rijiju criticised the opposition for blocking progress.
The Parliament pushed 8 bills on Monday. (Photo: Sansad TV)
High-voltage drama unfolded in the national capital on Monday as opposition MPs led a protest march from Parliament’s Makar Dwar to the Election Commission’s office over the allegations of ‘vote theft’.
Meanwhile, amid frequent disruptions, the Parliament passed eight Bills as Union minister Kiren Rijiju slammed the opposition parties for disruptions of both the Houses of Parliament and announced that the government would proceed with the legislative agenda without their participation.
Read More: ‘It’s Poll Body’s Data…’: Rahul Gandhi Refuses To Sign Affidavit On ‘Vote Theft’ Allegations
8 Bills Passed In Parliament
The Lok Sabha passed four Bills — The National Sports Governance Bill, The National Anti-Doping (Amendment) Bill, The Income-Tax (No 2) Bill and Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill — amid protests from the Opposition on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.
The Rajya Sabha passed The Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Tribes in Assembly Constituencies of the State of Goa Bill and The Merchant Shipping Bill, and also returned the Manipur Appropriation Bill and The Manipur Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, which were already passed by the Lok Sabha.
The Income-Tax (No. 2) Bill, 2025, containing over 500 clauses, was introduced by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and passed by the treasury benches in a matter of minutes without discussion. Immediately afterwards, the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2025 was also passed in one minute, again without debate.
Both Bills were introduced only two hours earlier and placed on the House’s agenda through a supplementary list. During the proceedings, the few opposition MPs protested over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Bihar and allegations of “vote theft”. Slogans of “Loktantra ki hatya bandh karo” (“Stop murdering democracy”) and “Shame! Shame!” were audible throughout.
When the Bills were taken up, there were hardly any opposition members in the House as most of them were detained during their protest march.
Read More: P Chidambaram Backs ‘Vote Theft’ Charge, Slams Poll Body: ‘Acting Like BJP Spokesperson’
The Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, Wayand MP Priyanka Gandhi, TMC’s Mahua Moitra and Sagrika Ghosh, Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Sanjay Raut were among multiple leaders and MPs who were detained by Delhi Police.
Rijiju Takes A Dig At Opposition
While addressing a press conference, Rijiju slammed the opposition parties for repeated disruptions of the Parliament and also hinted at an early end of the Monsoon session.
He said that the Congress and other opposition parties were not interested in allowing Parliament to function.
“Woh toh dekhte hai (Let us see it)… Opposition is not interested in allowing Parliament to function. The Opposition is interested only in headline management. They do not trust democratic institutions,” Rijiju said as quoted by news agency PTI.
“Every day, we will not allow the country’s and Parliament’s time to be wasted on one issue. Therefore, we will pass important Bills,” Rijiju said.
The minister said the government was keen to have a discussion on important Bills, but repeated disruptions by the Opposition were leading to adjournments of both Houses of Parliament.
He said the opposition members were not interested in raising matters related to public interest and were only keen on protesting on one issue every day.
“You have raised an issue, do it for one day. What is the point in raising the same issue every day?” the minister said, referring to the Opposition’s protests on the revision of electoral rolls in Bihar.
The Opposition’s Protest
Opposition parties have been demanding a rollback of the SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar ahead of the assembly elections this year.
The Opposition has been seeking a discussion on the issue in Parliament, a demand dismissed by the government, contending that the functioning of a constitutional authority cannot be discussed in the House.
Read More: High Drama On Delhi Streets: Rahul Gandhi Detained, Akhilesh Yadav Jumps Barricade In SIR Protest
Around 300 Opposition MPs, including Congress’s Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, SP’s Akhilesh Yadav, marched to the Election Commission office over the ‘vote theft’ allegations.
While speaking to reporters, Rahul Gandhi refused to submit a formal declaration to substantiate his allegation, saying it was the poll body’s data, not his own, that he had been asked to sign in the affidavit.
“It is their (Election Commission) data. It is not my data that I will sign (an affidavit)… Put that data on your website and you will get to know. All this is just to distract from the issue. This has not just taken place in Bengaluru but several other constituencies too…” Rahul Gandhi said, as quoted by news agency ANI.
(With inputs from agencies)
Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben…Read More
Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben… Read More
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