Ministers at the all-party meeting on the eve of the winter session, at the Main Committee Room of Parliament Annexe Building, in New Delhi on Sunday, November 30, 2025.
| Photo Credit:
ANI
The government is likely to face heat during the upcoming winter session of the Parliament as the Opposition insists on discussion on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voters list. Meanwhile, the government has sought co-operation from the Opposition for smooth functioning of both the houses.
The session starts on Monday. Ahead of that, the government called an all-party meeting on Sunday, which was chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. It was attended by BJP president and Union Minister J P Nadda, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, and his two deputies Arjun Ram Meghwal and L Murugan, besides leaders of 36 political parties.
While the SIR continued to dominate the meeting proceedings, several other issues, like national security in the wake of the Delhi blast and labour codes were also raised by the leaders. Some raised the point of federalism, alleging that governors were sitting on bills passed by the state legislatures and funds of Opposition-ruled states were being blocked.
Even though he gave no assurances to the Opposition, Rijiju said the House must be allowed to function. “This is the Winter Session of Parliament and everyone should think and conduct themselves with a cool mind,” he told reporters after the two-hour long meeting. “Parliament should not be stalled and it should function smoothly. The government will keep discussing with all parties to ensure smooth functioning of the House,” he said.
Asked if the Opposition’s demand for a discussion on SIR will be accepted, Rijiju said the agenda of the session will be decided by the Business Advisory Committee (BAC).
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh termed the all-party meeting “a mere formality” and said the Narendra Modi government had made its intentions clear by listing a subject for a short duration for discussion without any consultation with the Opposition. “This session of 15 days will be the shortest in Parliamentary history. The Modi government has listed 13 Bills for passage. Of these one replaces an ordinance and two have gone through a committee of the Lok Sabha. So, 10 Bills have not been examined by the Standing Committee concerned,” he said.
Samajwadi Party leader Ramgopal Yadav said his party would not allow Parliament to function if a discussion on the SIR is not held. “We will not allow the House to function if discussion is not held on SIR,” he told reporters, adding, several BLOs killed themselves as they had been told to delete specific votes.
Trinamool Congress leader Kalyan Banerjee said his party was ready to cooperate in running the House provided treasury benches respond with similar gestures. “The government should allow a discussion on issues such as SIR. Forty persons have lost their lives conducting SIR exercise,” Banerjee said, alleging that the objective of EC was to delete votes through SIR.
Tiruchi Siva of the DMK said the Opposition is unanimous in demanding a discussion on SIR. “The government has listed 14 bills. The common issue for the Opposition is SIR,” Siva said. BJD’s Sasmit Patra said all parties demanded a discussion on SIR, but his party wants a discussion on the electoral reforms.
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Published on November 30, 2025