New Delhi: The Opposition’s protest march to the Election Commission of India (ECI) against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar will now take place on August 11, instead of August 8, a source said on Tuesday. The change follows the death of former Jharkhand chief minister Shibu Soren, who passed away at a private hospital in Delhi on Monday.
Known widely as “Guruji,” Soren was a key figure in the movement for Jharkhand’s creation. Leaders from various parties are travelling to Ranchi to pay their respects. “His contribution to Jharkhand’s identity will always be remembered,” a senior Opposition leader said. The INDIA bloc’s dinner meeting will go ahead as planned on August 7 at the residence of Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi at 5, Sunehri Bagh Road.
In a related development, the Congress postponed its planned protest in Bengaluru from August 6 to August 8. The demonstration, to be led by Rahul Gandhi, is against alleged large-scale manipulation of electoral rolls in Mahadevapura constituency during the 2023 Assembly polls.
Opposition parties reiterated in a morning meeting that the SIR will remain central to their Monsoon Session strategy. They have accused the exercise of being a “vote-bandi” and “vote-chori” operation aimed at disenfranchisement.
Top Court may hear J&K statehood plea on Aug 8
It argues that the delay in restoring statehood “would cause serious reduction of democratically elected government in Jammu and Kashmir” and “a grave violation of the idea of federalism, which forms part of the basic structure of the Constitution of India.”
The petitioners noted that both the Lok Sabha elections and Assembly polls in the region had been conducted peacefully, with no reported incidents of violence or security disturbances. “Therefore, there is no impediment… which would hinder or prevent the grant/restoration of the status of statehood,” the plea states. On December 11, 2023, the Supreme Court upheld the Centre’s 2019 decision to abrogate Article 370, which had granted special status to the erstwhile state. The court also directed that assembly elections be held by September 2024 and that statehood be restored “at the earliest”.The petition contends that despite these directions, no timeline has been provided by the Centre. It also asserts that continuing to operate Jammu and Kashmir as a Union Territory for nearly five years has “affected the democratic rights of its citizens” and caused developmental setbacks. The hearing comes on the sixth anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370.Mpost