 "SIR to dominate Opposition's agenda in Winter Session of Parliament")
The winter session of Parliament will begin on Monday, with the Opposition at an all-party meeting on the eve of the session demanding a discussion on the Election Commission’s (EC’s) special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The EC on Sunday extended by a week the schedule of the ongoing SIR of electoral rolls in nine states and three Union Territories.
Opposition MPs have sought replies on the impact of air pollution in Delhi, whether the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has invested in the Adani group of companies, the four new labour Codes, and the impact of American tariffs on Indian export.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor has sought to know if the government has proposed amendments to the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010, and the Atomic Energy Act, 1962, to limit supplier liabilities, including defining a cap on equipment suppliers’ liability.
The Centre has listed two Bills for consideration and passing, and 10 for introduction, consideration, and passing. The first batch of supplementary demands for grants for 2025-26 will also be presented, discussed, and voted upon.
Some of the key Bills listed are the Corporate Laws (Amendment) Bill, Securities Markets Code Bill, the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, Atomic Energy Bill, National Highways (Amendment) Bill, and Higher Education Commission of India Bill. The Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill seeks to raise the foreign direct investment limit in the sector to 100 per cent from the current 74 per cent.
On Monday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will introduce the Central Excise (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha, along with the ‘Health Security se National Security Cess Bill’, which seeks to “augment the resources for meeting security expenditure on national security and for public health, and levy a cess for the said purposes on the machines installed or other processes undertaken by which specified goods are manufactured or produced”. Both Bills seek to levy excise duty on tobacco products by replacing the goods and services tax (GST) compensation cess. Currently, GST at 28 per cent is levied on tobacco and pan masala. A compensation cess at a varied rate is levied on top of this.
The Securities Markets Code Bill, listed for introduction, would ensure a unified securities market code for ease of doing business. The Bill seeks to merge the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992, the Depositories Act, 1996, and the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956, into a unified code.
The respective parliamentary committees scrutinising the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill, are set to get additional time to submit their reports.
At the meeting of the Lok Sabha’s Business Advisory Committee, the Centre pushed for a discussion on Vande Mataram, India’s national song, and the 150th anniversary of its composition. The Lok Sabha has allotted 10 hours for the discussion.
The Lok Sabha has listed The Manipur Goods and Services Tax (Second Amendment) Bill, 2025, for Monday and allotted three hours for it.
At the all-party meeting, Opposition parties also demanded a discussion on national security in the context of the bomb blast near Delhi’s Red Fort on November 10.
Congress General Secretary (in charge communications) Jairam Ramesh termed the all-party meeting a mere formality since the government had made its intention clear by listing a subject for a short-duration 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.
The Samajwadi Party’s Ram Gopal Yadav said: “We will not allow the House to function if discussion is not held on the SIR.” The TMC’s Kalyan Banerjee further alleged that 40 people had died during the conduct of the SIR.