Anti-SIR protests rock Bihar Assembly on inaugural day of monsoon session

Patna: Protests against special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar rocked the state assembly on the inaugural day of the monsoon session on Monday. Members of the CPI(ML) Liberation, a constituent of the INDIA bloc, reached the premises wearing black 'kurtas' as a mark of protest against SIR. "The Election Commission has ordered the exercise to wrongfully delete the names of a large number of voters, hoping that this would help the ruling NDA, which is likely to suffer a heavy defeat in the upcoming assembly polls. We shall be fighting it out from the House to the streets (sadan se sadak tak)," said Mehboob Alam, the legislature party leader of the CPI(ML) Liberation.

As proceedings of the House began, many opposition members rose in their seats, raising slogans against SIR and also seeking a response from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who was present inside the assembly, on the recent spurt in violent crimes. AIMIM MLA Akhtarul Iman, whose party has expressed the desire to join the INDIA bloc in Bihar, stormed into the well, raising slogans against the SIR, only to be admonished by Speaker Nand Kishore Yadav, who asked him to return to his seat. Proceedings of the day were subsequently adjourned after obituary references.