From Debate To Disruption: How The UPA Is Turning Parliament Into A Protest Ground | OPINION
Rs 25 crore plus! That is the cost of six days of disruptions in the monsoon session of Parliament. This staggering figure, translating to Rs 1.25 lakh per wasted minute, isn't just a fiscal loss. It represents a deeper rot: a culture of deliberate obstruction, perfected by the Congress-led UPA bloc and their I.N.D.I.A allies.
The numbers are damning. In the opening three days of the session, the Rajya Sabha functioned for barely 4.4 hours. The Lok Sabha managed a meagre 54 minutes. That means 816 minutes of wasted time in the Rajya Sabha, ₹10.2 crore gone! Another 1,026 minutes lost in the Lok Sabha, ₹12.83 crore down the drain. For what? Not a national emergency, not a crisis of governance, but a pre-scripted theatre of chaos by an Opposition unable to win the people's mandate at the ballot box and desperate to stall governance inside Parliament.
And this ₹25 crore is only the beginning. If the same pattern continues, the loss over the entire monsoon session could skyrocket to a shocking ₹189 crore. The figure is not speculative; it's derived from the daily operational cost of Parliament and the rate of adjournments already witnessed.
What makes this fiscal haemorrhage worse is the sheer bad faith driving it. The Modi government has made it clear it is ready for debate, especially on Operation Sindoor, a matter of national security and humanitarian significance. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi have repeatedly appealed to the Opposition to engage in constructive discussion. Yet, the Congress-led I.N.D.I.A. bloc treats disruption as its primary strategy.
As observed, this is no longer dissent; it is manufactured chaos weaponised to erode governance. Every wasted minute burns taxpayer money that could fund irrigation for farmers, roads for labourers, and student scholarships. If ₹25 crore plus in six days does not shake the conscience of these MPs, the looming prospect of ₹189 crore set ablaze in the name of political theatrics should. Every adjournment isn't just a loss of time; it is a blow to the dignity of the nation's highest institution.
Parliament Monsoon Session Updates, Day 6: The pattern continued. Both houses were adjourned for the day, marking another wasted session. However, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla's call for an all-party meeting has kindled a ray of hope. The meeting, aimed at breaking the logjam, will focus on Operation Sindoor in the Lok Sabha. The inaugural week, marred by disruptions, has seen little business, but this initiative offers a chance to restore dignity if the Opposition can abandon its obstructionist script.
At the epicentre of this political sabotage is the Congress party, dragging along its crumbling UPA alliance. Electoral rejection after rejection has left it bitter and rudderless. Instead of introspection, it has chosen disruption as a political tool. Ironically, the same Congress that once invoked “parliamentary decorum” when in power now turns the nation's highest lawmaking body into a stage for sloganeering and walkouts. This is not dissent; it's a betrayal of the democratic process and of the taxpayers whose hard-earned money funds this circus.
Running Parliament costs ₹1.25 lakh per minute. In a country still grappling with poverty, unemployment, and infrastructure deficits, such colossal waste is not merely negligent; it is criminal. Citizens are told to tighten their belts, comply with taxes, and trust governance. Meanwhile, their elected representatives burn crores, treating Parliament like a protest ground rather than the sanctum of national decision-making.
Rahul Gandhi, once again, is the face of this disruption. His political career has been defined less by constructive engagement and more by performance politics. From tearing up ordinances to staging walkouts, from mocking national initiatives to reducing debates to soundbites, he has turned optics into his only currency. The Congress and its allies follow suit, choosing noise over nuance and paralysis over policy.
It has now become a predictable playbook for the Congress, TMC, DMK, and other I.N.D.I.A. bloc parties: pick a pretext, any pretext, create a ruckus, force adjournments, and then blame the government for inaction. Economic policy, national security bills, judicial reforms, nothing is immune. This is not healthy parliamentary scrutiny; it is a deliberate attempt to cripple governance.
Contrast this with the BJP and the RSS-inspired vision of Parliament. For decades, the Sangh has viewed Parliament not merely as a political arena but as the sanctum of Rashtra Dharma (duty towards the nation). The Modi government, backed by back-to-back mandates, has sought to use Parliament to enact reforms critical to India's rise: national security laws, digital economy frameworks, infrastructure funding, and welfare expansions. These are not abstract policies; they are the building blocks of Amrit Kaal. Yet, they are routinely delayed or diluted because the Opposition prefers disruption to debate.
This pattern is not new. The Congress's history is littered with instances of prioritising power games over national interest. In the 1980s, it resisted key economic liberalisation steps to maintain its socialist façade. In the UPA era, reforms were stalled for years under the weight of coalition politics and fear of losing minority vote banks. The same mentality now manifests as deliberate parliamentary sabotage.
Compare that to the BJP's record, even when it was in Opposition. During Atal Bihari Vajpayee's time as Leader of the Opposition in the early 1990s, and later during UPA-I and UPA-II, the BJP raised sharp critiques of policy but maintained parliamentary decorum. Debates were fierce, but disruption was the exception, not the strategy. Vajpayee himself famously said, “Parliament is not a battlefield; it is a forum where the nation speaks to itself.” Even during contentious issues like the Indo-US nuclear deal or the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the BJP engaged in substantive debate rather than reducing Parliament to a shouting match.
That contrast is the ideological divide. The RSS-BJP ethos places the nation above the party. Parliament is seen as a sacred space where Rashtra Nirmaan (nation-building) takes precedence over partisan theatrics. The Congress-UPA approach has degenerated into the opposite: if we can't govern, we will block governance; if we can't win, we will ensure the winners can't function.
This culture of obstruction must carry consequences. Why should MPs who waste parliamentary hours still draw full salaries and allowances? Why should taxpayers fund their tantrums? The time has come for reforms. MPs who stall Parliament must face pay cuts. Their daily performance must be published on a public dashboard, accessible to every citizen. Constituents must know when their representative is building the nation and when they are burning their time and money.
India is at a historic juncture. As the world looks at Bharat as an emerging Vishwaguru, our Parliament must reflect strength, discipline, and purpose. Instead, ₹23 crore has been symbolically set on fire in three days, turning the temple of democracy into a theatre of chaos. This is not dissent. It is sabotage dressed up as resistance.
Amrit Kaal is not just a phrase; it is a vision of a New India, self-reliant, disciplined, and determined to rise as a global power. That vision cannot coexist with an opposition that treats Parliament as a protest ground. It demands a politics rooted in responsibility, not recklessness.
If the Congress and its I.N.D.I.A allies truly believe in democracy, they must abandon this path. Debate with reason. Challenge with facts. Build, don't break. And if they cannot, the people of Bharat must render their verdict in the only language these disruptors will understand: at the ballot box.
In 2024 and beyond, every adjournment, every wasted minute, and every squandered crore must echo in the voting booth. The next election must not just decide governance, it must decide whether India embraces the disciplined, development-driven vision of the BJP and RSS or succumbs to the chaos of an opposition that has turned obstruction into an ideology.
Rs 25 crore is just the monetary cost. The real price is the dignity of our democracy and the dream of a New India. Amrit Kaal demands better. Bharat deserves better. And the citizens must ensure they get it.
(The writer is a technocrat, political analyst, and author.)
[Disclaimer: The opinions, beliefs, and views expressed by the various authors and forum participants on this website are personal and do not reflect the opinions, beliefs, and views of ABP Network Pvt. Ltd.]
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