From Chandigarh, Congress parliamentarian Manish Tewari on February 22 voiced strong reservations to IANS about the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) practices. He asserted that statutes bar the EC from initiating SIR solely at the provincial tier, advocating for constitutional clarity.
Having flagged this in the Lok Sabha, Tewari cited mounting complaints of opaque procedures and selective voter purges. ‘Transparency is absent; it’s targeted politics,’ he observed. The West Bengal precedent, forcing Mamata Banerjee to the apex court, signals a broader faith deficit in electoral oversight.
Tewari then dissected trade imbalances. Facing Trump’s 15% tariff rhetoric, India’s zero-tariff regime on 70 US-bound items tilts the scales unfairly. ‘They enter scot-free; we pay dearly. Time for answers,’ he challenged the Modi administration.
Bihar’s Dilip Kumar Jaiswal countered by exposing Congress fractures. Leaders cling to Nehru-Indira tags, sidelining Rahul Gandhi—whose approach Jaiswal decried as nation-hostile. These revelations fuel the intensifying war of words in India’s polarized polity.