Oppn walks out of Rajya Sabha as chair refuses discussion on delimitation, EPIC issues

In the absence of Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, who had fallen sick and was admitted to AIIMS on Saturday, Deputy Chairman Harivansh chaired the proceedings on Monday. Soon after the Upper House met for the day, the Deputy Chairman said he has received notices under Rule 267 to suspend the listed business and discuss other issues. Congress MP Ajay Maken had given a notice for discussing the acknowledgement by the Election Commission of India on March 7, 2025, of the existence of duplicate EPIC numbers. In his notice, he said this revelation «casts serious doubt on the free and free nature of our electoral process and democracy» as the loopholes enable individuals to possess multiple EPICs in different states and constituencies.

Maken also wanted the matter of sudden and unjustified surges in the number of electors immediately before elections, and abrupt and unwarranted deletion of voters «belonging to specific communities or religious groups», to be debated.

DMK members wanted to raise the ongoing debate on fears that delimitation will lead to loss of percentage share of seats for the southern states in the Lok Sabha. They also wanted a debate on the 3-language formula stated in the National Education Policy.

Some other members from the Opposition had also given notices on other issues. When the Chair dismissed the notices, Pramod Tiwari (Congress) tried to reason while leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge raised his hand, seeking permission to speak. When the Chair did not call Kharge, Opposition MPs