Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday warned Opposition MPs of “decisive action” if they continued to wave placards and stall proceedings, as both Houses of Parliament remained paralysed for the third consecutive day over the poll panel’s ongoing voter roll revision in Bihar.

Opposition MPs trooped to the Well of the two Houses, held up placards and raised slogans demanding scrapping of the special intensive revision (SIR) of voter rolls in Bihar, stalling the proceedings for the day. Slogans of “SIR wapas lo (Take back SIR)" were raised. The placards accused the SIR of being a move aimed at disenfranchising a large number of voters.

“Your conduct in Parliament is that of the streets. I want to urge the leaders of these parties that the conduct of their MPs in the House is being watched by the people of the country,” Birla said during Question Hour as the Opposition MPs stood in the Well.

“I want to iterate that I will have to take decisive action against those displaying placards in the House. You are honourable and should behave like honourable members,” he added, before adjourning the House till noon, barely eight minutes after it had assembled for the day.

The government has agreed to a 16-hour debate on Operation Sindoor in both Houses of Parliament next week, prompting the Opposition to take up its second most important issue — that of the voter roll revision in Bihar — to corner the Modi dispensation. The government has so far declined any discussion in Parliament on the SIR.

The Opposition members also staged a protest over the SIR at the main entrance of Parliament for the second day. The leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav stood side by side at the protest, seeking to underline wider Opposition unity on the issue.

“Elections are being stolen in India, this is the truth! In Bihar, votes of SCs, STs, OBCs and our minority brothers and sisters are being stolen in the name of SIR. We will not sit quietly. The INDIA bloc will fight the battle for people's rights from Parliament to the streets,” Rahul told reporters.

The Congress’s deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi, said the Bihar drive could well be implemented in the rest of the country. “If you are a BJP supporter, you will have the right to vote, but if you vote for the Opposition, your vote will be taken away. This is voter suppression, vote theft, and we strongly oppose it,” he said, demanding a discussion in Parliament.

“The government doesn’t want a discussion on the SIR in Bihar. Till now, they have not clearly stated whether a discussion on the SIR will take place,” Gogoi said.

Government sources firmly ruled out a discussion on the SIR in Parliament. “The voter roll revision is an exercise being carried out by the Election Commission. The government can’t respond in Parliament on behalf of the EC,” a BJP manager said, adding that the matter was also before the Supreme Court.

After the sudden resignation of Vice-President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, the business advisory committee of the House finally met on Wednesday after four rounds of rescheduling over two days.

A broad understanding was reached between the government and the Opposition on the discussion on Operation Sindoor next week after the Prime Minister returns to India from his two-nation tour of the UK and the Maldives. The government apparently gave in to the Opposition's insistence that there would not be a resolution on Operation Sindoor. The Opposition fears that such a resolution would paper over intelligence failures.

While parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju sought to point out that 16 hours were being allotted to the discussion on Operation Sindoor, the Opposition countered by saying that there should have been a special session given the gravity of the situation. At the meeting, the Opposition also insisted on a reply from the Prime Minister to the debate on Operation Sindoor, but the ministers were non-committal.