Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Friday withdrew the Income Tax Bill, 2025, in the Lok Sabha, with the Select Committee having submitted its report on it. Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned multiple times amid vociferous protests by the Opposition demanding a discussion on the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar. When the House assembled at 3 pm, TDP member Krishna Prasad Tenneti, who was in the Chair, asked Sitharaman to move for leave to withdraw the Bill. She then withdrew the Bill, and then the House was adjourned for the day. Earlier in the day, amid the din as Opposition members raised slogans and continued to demand for a discussion on the electoral roll revision, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said it is unfortunate that the Opposition members are wasting time when private member Bills were to be taken up. He said that the Opposition parties should not say that the government did not cooperate as it has been expressing readiness since the beginning to discuss all issues under rules. Earlier in the day, some members were even seen banging the table of the Lok Sabha Speaker, which was strongly objected to by Tenneti. “Yeh dhol nahi hai (this is not a drum). You cannot bang the table like this. I take strong objection to the banging of the Lok Sabha Speaker's table,” said Tenneti. With no end to disruptions, Tenneti adjourned the proceedings till 3 pm. When the House convened at 11 am, Speaker Om Birla paid homage to former Lok Sabha member and former Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik, who died on August 5. Birla also read out a reference on the anniversary of the Quit India Movement. Soon after the Speaker read out the references, Opposition MPs shouted slogans, displayed placards and some entered the Well as they protested against the electoral roll revision. Despite the protests, however, five questions and supplementaries were taken up during the 23 minutes of Question Hour. With no let-up in the protests, the Speaker adjourned the proceedings till 12 noon. Meanwhile, when the Rajya Sabha met at 12 noon, after a first adjournment, Ghanshyam Tiwari, who was in the Chair, urged the members to allow the Question Hour to function but unrelenting Opposition MPs continued with their protests. Congress MP Pramod Tiwari sought to raise the issue of alleged “vote theft” over discrepancy claims in the electoral rolls in an Assembly constituency in Karnataka, but the Chair did not allow him to speak. Soon Congress MPs and other Opposition members raised slogans and demanded discussion on the issue and the SIR. The Chair then asked Union MoS Ravneet Singh Bittu to answer the question. Bittu, however, targeted the Opposition accusing them of indulging in such acts of “theft”. Amid protest and sloganeering, the House was adjourned for the day. With PTI inputs
