New Delhi, Dec 1: The Winter Session of Lok Sabha plunged into turmoil yet again on Monday as vociferous protests by opposition members over alleged “vote chori” in recent elections and the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in 12 states and union territories forced a second adjournment of the day till 2 p.m.

The House had reconvened at noon after a brief and stormy sitting from 11 a.m. Within minutes, opposition MPs rushed into the Well, raising thunderous slogans of ‘Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhor!’ and waving placards demanding an immediate discussion on what they called a “conspiracy to delete genuine voters” through the SIR exercise.

Deputy Speaker Sandhya Rai, presiding over the proceedings, repeatedly urged the members to return to their seats. She assured the House that none of the more than 20 adjournment motion notices submitted by the opposition had been rejected by the Speaker and that the issues could be taken up if the House was allowed to function.

Her appeals, however, went unheeded amid the unrelenting din.

Before the protests drowned out all business, the Lok Sabha managed to complete some routine but significant work.

Ministers Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Pankaj Chaudhary and Kirti Vardhan Singh laid papers on behalf of their respective ministries.

The Standing Committee on Chemicals and Fertilisers presented two key reports — one examining the steep rise in medicine prices and its impact on common citizens, and another on achieving self-reliance in fertiliser production.

Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan moved a motion to elect two Lok Sabha members to the Council of the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, while extensions were granted to the select committees examining the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill and the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Supplementary Demands for Grants (First Batch) for 2025-26 and introduced three bills, including the Health Security and National Security Cess Bill, 2025, which immediately drew sharp protests from Trinamool Congress member Saugata Roy, who termed it an “extra tax burden on the aam aadmi”.

As the sloganeering only grew louder, an exasperated Deputy Speaker warned that she would be compelled to adjourn the House.

She asked them, “Why do you not want to run the zero hour?”

When calm did not return, she finally rose and announced adjournment till 2 p.m.

With both sides digging in — the opposition adamant on not letting the House run without a debate on electoral malpractice and the treasury benches determined to push ahead with legislative business — the Winter Session 2025 appears set for prolonged disruption.

Mumbai: Maharashtra minister and BJP leader Nitesh Rane has said Shiv Sena workers campaigning for a rival Sena (UBT) candidate in Sindhudurg raised doubts about Deputy CM Eknath Shinde’s past claims that he rebelled against the then MVA government due to “injustice”.

Rane said the situation raised serious doubts about the justification of Shinde’s rebellion in 2022. Notably, the BJP leader’s elder brother, Nilesh Rane, is an MLA from the Shinde-led Shiv Sena.

“Eknath Shinde had claimed he witnessed injustice to Shiv Sena workers under then chief minister and Shiv Sena head Uddhav Thackeray, hence, he rebelled. If he rebelled then, why are his party workers campaigning for Sandesh Parkar, a leader of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and candidate in the Kankavli municipal council elections?” Nitesh Rane asked while speaking to reporters in Sindhudurg district on Saturday evening.

Not only the people of Sindhudurg, but the entire Maharashtra will ask Shinde whether there is any meaning left to his so-called rebellion, the BJP leader said.

The latest outburst against Shinde came at the fag end of the campaigning for the first phase of local body polls, scheduled for December 2, marked by shifting political alliances and one-upmanship bids by leaders of the ruling Mahayuti allies – BJP and Shiv Sena.

Shinde engineered a split in the undivided Shiv Sena in June 2022, leading to the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

He then allied with the BJP and became the chief minister, with BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis sworn in as deputy CM.

In February 2024, Maharashtra legislative assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar ruled that Shinde’s faction was the “real Shiv Sena”.

After the BJP emerged as the single largest party in the 2024 assembly polls, Shinde resigned from the post of chief minister in December last year, and Fadnavis became the CM.

Mumbai: Mumbai’s suburban rail network faced yet another rough start to the week as Central Railway services were delayed by nearly 30 minutes on Monday morning, leaving thousands of office-goers stranded during peak hours. The exact reason behind the widespread disruption was not immediately known, though railway authorities later issued a clarification.

The delays began early in the morning and quickly triggered a chain reaction across multiple services on the Central Line. This resulted in overcrowded platforms, slow-moving trains and mounting frustration among daily commuters who rely heavily on the network for work travel.

Irritated passengers took to social media platform X to highlight the situation, tagging senior officials and the Central Railway handle. Many criticised what they described as persistent issues and poor maintenance.

One user wrote, “@Central_Railway is not properly maintaining the track and rakes. It is evident from daily delays and incidents like Mumbra. Last night, a Thane-bound train from CSMT was delayed by 51 minutes. How can this be explained?” Another commuter shared a picture showing a train running 56 minutes late and questioned, “Isn’t the Central Railway administration ashamed?”

Screenshots shared from M-indicator, a widely used local train tracking app, showed several trains on the Central Line running behind schedule, some by more than 30 minutes. A user tagging multiple railway authorities posted, “Central Suburban Railway has become a joke that even kids are tired of. Every day there are 20-minute delays on almost every train from Badlapur–Ambernath. It’s truly frustrating.”

In response to the rising complaints and a viral commuter post, Central Railway issued an explanation via X through the Senior Divisional Operations Manager (Coaching), Mumbai Division. “We are committed to maintaining punctuality; however, local trains have been delayed due to issues such as chain pulling and trespassing. These disruptions often create a cascading effect on the overall schedule. We regret the inconvenience caused,” the statement read.

Despite the clarification, many commuters demanded stronger preventive measures and better communication from railway authorities, pointing out that Monday’s issues have become part of a recurring pattern rather than an isolated event. With Mumbai’s local trains serving as the city’s lifeline, passengers are hoping for improved punctuality and more reliable weekday operations in the coming days.