Opposition divided over its strategy on the SIR

At a meeting of Opposition parties on Monday (December 1, 2025) morning, there was a variance in views over continuing the protests against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. It was decided that the Opposition would “play it by the ear” instead of taking a blanket call on disrupting proceedings.

The decision was taken only for the floor strategy on Monday (December 1) and Tuesday (December 2), according to sources. The Opposition would take a call based on the government’s response to their demand for a debate on “electoral reforms”, under which they hoped to flag the “anomalies” and “malpractices” in the SIR.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC), which skipped the meeting, remains insistent on keeping the focus on the SIR in this session.

The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi spoke at length about how the SIR was being misused by the ruling party. The Opposition, he said, was not given the final electoral roll in time for scrutiny. By the time they got their hands on it, it was usually too late. The Congress leader also spoke on the Bihar Assembly election results, which he said his party was studying, sources said. The SIR contributed to the National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA’s) victory in Bihar, Mr. Gandhi told the gathering.

Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Ram Gopal Yadav provided a detailed account, sources said, of the SIR underway in Uttar Pradesh. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was himself monitoring the exercise, and talking directly to District Magistrates, Mr. Yadav reportedly claimed. The names of minority voters were being systematically weeded out, he alleged.

On the question of what the Opposition must do to raise this issue, the Left parties, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and a few others pointed out that it would not be wise to hold a continuous protest on the SIR. There were several other issues that had to be flagged, they reportedly said.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s (DMK’s) parliamentary party leader K. Kanimozhi held the view that while the SIR was important, other subjects needed attention, too.

In the end, it was decided that protests would continue on Monday (December 1) and Tuesday (December 2), and a fresh call would be taken for the rest of the week at a meeting on Wednesday, based on the government’s response.