Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi and Congress MPs K.C. Venugopal and Selja Kumari; Lok Sabha Deputy LoP Gaurav Gogoi; Samajwadi Party (SP) MPs Awadhesh Prasad, Dimple Yadav, and Dharmendra Yadav; and others stand for 'Vande Mataram' in the Lok Sabha during the Monsoon Session of Parliament, in New Delhi on Thursday (August 13, 2026).
| Photo Credit: ANI
The Monsoon Session of Parliament that concluded on Thursday (August 13, 2026) saw multiple lows in terms of productivity. Twelve Bills were passed, with detailed debate taking place on only one — the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026, also known as the anti-paper leak legislation. Only two questions were answered orally in the Lok Sabha and 16 in the Rajya Sabha during the entire session. However, the Opposition managed to maintain a united front, pushing back strongly against several legislations, including the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill (FCRA), 2026, which was referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC).Each side blamed the other for the low productivity in the session which began with students marching down to the Parliament on July 20, the first day of the session. Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju held the principal Opposition party, the Congress, “solely responsible for unfairly disrupting the proceedings”, while the Congress claimed that never before had a government been so “scared and rattled”. While the Lok Sabha recorded 19% business, it was 39% in the Rajya Sabha. According to data compiled by PRS Legislative Research, this has been one of the lowest productivity rates for the Lok Sabha in 22 years, with only two Parliament sessions since 2004 recording lower productivity. PRS Legislative Research’s analysis further highlighted that nine Bills were passed in the Lok Sabha without any MP (other than the Minister) speaking on them. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla skipped his concluding address, while Rajya Sabha Chairman C.P. Radhakrishnan expressed “deep concern” over disruptions that “derailed” the business of the Upper House during the session. Repeated disruptions, Rajya Sabha Chairman Mr. Radhakrishnan said, “ultimately affect the trust and aspirations of the people”. He informed the Rajya Sabha that the House functioned for only 37 hours and 49 minutes, recording a productivity of 39.17%. “We had the opportunity to raise 285 Starred Questions, 380 Zero Hour Submissions and 380 Special Mentions. Sadly, only 16 Questions, 52 Zero Hour Submissions and 93 Special Mentions could be taken up,” he said. The Congress, the Trinamool Congress, and the Samajwadi Party boycotted the customary tea party hosted by Mr. Birla after the House was adjourned sine die. Only Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Kanimozhi Karunanidhi attended the traditional get-together. In the Rajya Sabha, however, Opposition leaders, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Sonia Gandhi, attended the tea party hosted by the Chairman. Addressing a press conference minutes after the session was adjourned, Mr. Rijiju said, “For the first time, we have seen the Opposition running away from debate in Parliament when the government wanted discussions. The Congress is solely responsible for unfairly disrupting the proceedings. This is not good for democracy, especially parliamentary democracy,” he said, expressing hope that there will be “some changes” in the Opposition’s attitude in the next parliamentary session.The other Opposition parties also blamed the government. The Trinamool’s Derek O’ Brien pointed out that 10 of the 12 Bills that were passed cleared the floor of the Parliament in less than five minutes, from the Minister moving the Bill to its passing by voice vote. He said that the BJP government mocked Parliament by passing Bills like making “Maggi noodles”. “For the first time since 1952, the Prime Minister and Home Minister did not enter the two Houses till the last day,” he said.Samajwadi Party’s Dharmendra Yadav said that the government was solely responsible for this washout. “We had asked for two debates - the Ram Temple donation scam and the Delhi Police’s action on protesting students. If the government had agreed for it, then 17 of the 19 sittings would have functioned smoothly. But the government refused because they had no reply to give on these two issues,” Mr. Yadav said. Published - August 13, 2026 10:33 pm IST
