Rahul Gandhi to initiate debate on election reforms in Lok Sabha today. What to expect?

Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, will initiate the debate on election reforms in the Lower House today, 9 December.

The opposition has been demanding a discussion on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Parliament since the start of the monsoon session. However, the government has suggested holding a debate on election reforms, citing that the Election Commission is an independent, autonomous, and constitutional body.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is expected to field senior leaders Nishikant Dubey, PP Chaudhary, Abhijit Gangopadhyay and Sanjay Jaiswal in the debate, which will take place over two days.

Besides Gandhi, the Congress is expected to field KC Venugopal, Manish Tewari, Varsha Gaikwad, Mohammed Jawed, Ujjwal Raman Singh, Isa Khan, Ravi Mallu, Imran Masood, Gowaal Padavi and Jothimani in the debate.

In the beginning of the Winter Session of Parliament this month, several Opposition leaders, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, staged protests inside and outside Parliament. The leaders held posters and placards against the Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls, carried a large banner reading “Stop SIR–Stop Vote Chori”, and raised slogans against the government.

The Congress has claimed that the SIR drive — officially meant to remove bogus voters — was misused in Bihar to disproportionately target marginalised communities that typically support opposition parties.

The SIR drive was misused in Bihar to disproportionately target marginalised communities.

After several rounds of talks between the government and Opposition floor leaders, both sides agreed to first hold a discussion marking 150 years of Vande Mataram, followed by a debate on the SIR issue. The debate on Vande Mataram was initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Lok Sabha on Monday.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju announced the decision on a debate on electoral reforms on X. “During the All-Party Meeting Chaired by Hon’ble Speaker Lok Sabha today, it has been decided to hold discussion in Lok Sabha on 150th Anniversary of National Song ‘Vande Mataram’ from 12 Noon on Monday, 8 December and discussion on Election Reforms from 12 noon on Tuesday, 9 December,” the minister said.