New DelhiNovember 28, 2025 07:42 AM IST
First published on: Nov 28, 2025 at 07:29 AM IST
Ahead of the coming Winter Session of Parliament, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju has said the Opposition should give up frequent disruption of proceedings, claiming that such measures have proved to be “a disaster politically” for it.
Speaking at The Idea Exchange session of The Indian Express, Rijiju said: “By disrupting parliamentary proceedings, they are losing election after election… Misusing the Parliament forum for driving a political agenda does not necessarily bring political dividends.”
With the Opposition expected to raise the Election Commission’s ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the House, Rijiju said: “The discussion about any constitutional authority which is clearly an autonomous body (the EC) is not advisable, number one, because the government cannot speak on behalf of the authority. Suppose you want to discuss the Supreme Court’s functioning… it is different from judicial reforms… So that is why, when there are matters sub-judice or matters related to the Election Commission and courts, the stand has been that since they are autonomous constitutional bodies, they cannot be discussed on the floor of the House until and unless it is related to some reforms, which the government can always bring.”
He added: “If the matter (SIR) is to be discussed, the subject has to be widened, (like) a reform… We can think about it.”
Referring to the time when the NDA and BJP were in the Opposition, the Union minister said they raised issues then carefully. “We made it a point that once we raised an issue, it (should be) worthy of being taken to a logical conclusion, whether it was the Commonwealth Games or 2G scandals… Those had a political impact,” said Rijiju.
In contrast, he said: “(Now) The solid issues brought by the government in terms of implementation are opposed by the Opposition.”
Referring to the Monsoon Session of Parliament, in which proceedings were disrupted over the SIR exercise in Bihar, Rijiju said the Session was very successful “from the business of the government’s point of view”. “In fact, the last Session was the most productive in my more than two decades of parliamentary experience… And the second point which I want to make is that the washout of the Session may be bad for Opposition parties, especially their members. As for the government, we are worried only because the debates and discussion do not take place for critical Bills and on other issues.”
Asked about the “bitterness” between the Opposition and Treasury Benches now during Parliament sessions, Rijiju said that if the Opposition’s bitterness is because of its political failures, the government “can’t help it”.
Questioned about the concern of the Opposition regarding fewer Bills being referred to Standing Committees and being pushed through without consultations, Rijiju said he “agrees with the deterioration in the standards of parliamentary functioning”, adding: “Within the Opposition, not all leaders or members are responsible for what happens within the Congress. I don’t want to name the senior Congress leaders and many other MPs from the Opposition who keep telling me to do something so that Parliament can function. But if the entire agenda of the Opposition is driven by one or two failed leaders, it is very difficult… After all, who are the biggest victims? It is the Opposition MPs.”
Rijiju added: “At the end of the day, an MP has to go back to the people. How will you show your performance? It is totally dependent on your performance in the House. If Parliament doesn’t function, government business doesn’t stop, but it stops the MPs from speaking.”