The Rajya Sabha witnessed a dramatic walkout by opposition parties, including Congress and Trinamool Congress (TMC), today after their persistent calls for a discussion on alleged duplicate voter ID cards and the upcoming delimitation exercise were rebuffed. The uproar unfolded as Deputy Chairman Harivansh rejected 10 notices under Rule 267, which seeks to suspend the day’s business for urgent matters, citing non-conformity with prior chair rulings.

TMC MPs Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, Mausam B. Noor, and Sushmita Dev, alongside Congress’s Pramod Tiwari, pressed for a probe into the Election Commission’s issuance of multiple duplicate Electoral Photo Identity Cards (EPICs) across states. Meanwhile, DMK’s P. Wilson and CPM’s V. Sivadasan sought to address the delimitation’s potential impact on southern states’ representation. The opposition’s demands were met with slogans and protests, but Harivansh stood firm, declaring the notices inadmissible and off-record, prompting the walkout.

Other issues raised included BJP’s Samik Bhattacharya highlighting atrocities against SCs, STs, and OBCs in West Bengal, CPI’s P. Santhosh Kumar questioning a telecom-Starlink deal, AAP’s Sanjay Singh flagging Delhi’s law-and-order crisis, and IUML’s Haris Beeran addressing Kerala’s youth drug addiction surge. Despite the breadth of concerns, none breached the chair’s threshold for debate.

The standoff reflects growing opposition frustration over electoral integrity and regional equity, with TMC and Congress amplifying the EPIC issue as a threat to fair elections. Posts on X from TMC’s Sagarika Ghose underscored this, questioning the Modi government’s reluctance. As the session dissolved into discord, the walkout signaled a deepening rift, leaving critical democratic issues hanging in limbo.