The Lok Sabha was adjourned soon after it had convened on the second day of the Winter Session.
Published Dec 02, 2025 | 12:31 PM ⚊ Updated Dec 02, 2025 | 12:31 PM
Opposition leaders protest. demanding a debate on SIR.
Synopsis: The government’s admission of mandating Sanchar Saathi in all smartphones, coupled with SIR gave the Opposition enough ammunition on Tuesday.
Heated protests over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) by the Opposition marked the opening of the second day of the winter session of Parliament on Tuesday, 2 December.
The proceedings were hampered as the Opposition demanded a debate on the SIR. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla’s repeated requests for calm went in vain as the Opposition benches chanted “SIR pe charcha karo” (Discuss SIR).
The noisy scenes forced the Chair to adjourn the House till 12 noon.
Earlier, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi joined his Rajya Sabha counterpart Mallikarjun Kharge outside Makar Dwar on Parliament premises for a protest against SIR. Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and others, too, were part of the protest.
The Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 2 pm following Opposition uproar demanding a debate on SIR.
Pressing for a discussion, TMC member Sagarika Ghose said India was in the midst of a human tragedy, and people were dying. She drew attention to the deaths by suicide of Block Level Officers.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju advised the Opposition against searching and manufacturing issues.
Congress leader and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi criticised the government for making a “snooping app”, Sanchar Saathi, mandatory. She termed it an infringement on citizens’ right to privacy.
“The government is turning the country into a dictatorship,” she said.
Her party colleague and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor said he had not studied the issue in full, but common sense suggested that such apps could be useful only if voluntary.
“Making anything mandatory in a democracy is concerning. The government should explain its rationale to the public instead of just issuing orders reported by the media,” he said.
The government admitted its move to make Sanchar Saathi mandatory only after the media had reported it.
Tharoor called for a discussion on the app.
Congress MP Imran Masood criticised the government’s mandate of Sanchar Saathi on smartphones, which he called a “direct invasion of privacy” that would lead to the surveillance of ordinary citizens. The member from Saharanpur, UP, recalled the Pegasus episode that allegedly snooped on politicians. He said the government would now target ordinary people.
In the Rajya Sabha, Congress member Renuka Chowdhury filed an adjournment motion, seeking to discuss Sanchar Saathi by suspending other businesses.
