Parliamentary Affairs minister Kiren Rijiju fact-checks Kharge’s false claims: ‘No CISF in Rajya Sabha, only Marshals present’

Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Monday, 5th August, fact checked Congress president and Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, saying he was “misleading” the House by claiming that CISF personnel had entered the Well of the House. Rijiju said only Marshals were allowed inside, and only Marshals were in the House that day. He asked Kharge to clarify the claims he made both in his letter to the Chair and in the media.

Responding to the allegations, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh refuted Kharge’s claims, stating that the personnel deployed were not from the CISF but from the Parliament Security Service (PSS).

When Kharge tried to insist again that CISF was deployed inside the House, members from the government side, along with the Chair, interrupted him, saying that only Marshals were present.

Huge Ruckus in Rajya Sabha

Kharge asks, 'Why do we bring CISF?'

Union Minister Rijiju responded by saying, 'It is clearly on record that only marshals are allowed in the House, and even on that day, it was the marshals who were present. Therefore, the Leader of the Opposition… pic.twitter.com/mcWgTGpX2u

— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) August 5, 2025

Following this, Kharge asked whether the Chairman or Union Home Minister Amit Shah is running the House. “Even our previous leaders have maintained that disruptions are also a part of democracy. But I ask you today (Chair), who is running this House? You, or Union Home Minister Amit Shah?” Kharge said. after which loud protests erupted from the Opposition benches.

This heated exchange comes after Kharge’s letter to Deputy Chairman Harivansh, sent on Friday, 1st August. In the letter, Kharge expressed shock over alleged CISF deployment during an Opposition protest. “We are astonished and shocked at how CISF personnel are made to run into the Well of the House when the Members are exercising their democratic right of protest”, he wrote.

Congress MP Pramod Tiwari also slammed the government, saying that male security personnel stopped women MPs. “This is a dark day for democracy,” he told reporters.

News