Prime Minister Narendra Modi termed the record voter turnout in Bihar elections as the biggest strength of democracy and said that the increase is women’s share in the voting is a sign of hope.
Modi was briefing the media ahead of the commencement of the Winter Session of the Eighteenth Lok Sabha at Hans Dwar, Parliament House.
The Parliament awaits a stormy start to Winter Session as the the Opposition parties in an all-party meeting on Sunday put up a united front demanding discussion on Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the House, warning that they might stall proceedings if the government does not agree.
However, the government has already signalled that a discussion on SIR per se would not be possible, as it was an administrative exercise being carried out by the Election Commission, an autonomous body, and the government cannot answer on its behalf.
The all-party meeting convened by the government and chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday also saw the Opposition demand discussions in Parliament on the recent Red Fort blast, air pollution and developments related to the government’s foreign policy.