Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi said raising public issues in Parliament “isn’t drama,” and questioned the purpose of Parliament if such issues were not discussed.
Published Dec 01, 2025 | 5:27 PM ⚊ Updated Dec 01, 2025 | 5:27 PM
Modi, speaking ahead of the first day of the Winter Session in New Delhi on Monday, 1 December.
Synopsis: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call on Monday for MPs to avoid “drama” during the Winter Session of Parliament drew sharp reactions from the Opposition, which accused the Union government of blocking debate on public issues such as the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. Congress leaders hit out at the Prime Minister for hypocrisy and pointed to his routine absence from Parliament. Others also criticised the Centre for refusing debates on the SIR.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s comments urging MPs to avoid “drama” during the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament have drawn strong criticism from opposition leaders, who accused the Union government of stifling debate on issues of public importance, including concerns around the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls currently underway in several states.
Modi, speaking ahead of the first day of the Winter Session in New Delhi on Monday, 1 December, called for “constructive engagement” in the House and asked opposition members to “fulfil their responsibility” to voters.
“In the discussions they should raise strong issues and come out of the despair of defeat. The restlessness of defeat should not become the arena,” he said.
“There is plenty of space for doing drama. Whoever wants to do it will continue to do it, but here there should be delivery, not drama. As for slogans, how many slogans do you want people to shout? The whole country is open. Where you have gone after being defeated you have spoken, where you are about to go to be defeated you may speak there too.”
He said some parties might find negativity beneficial, but in Parliament it should be “about policy”.
“And our intent must be right. It is possible that in politics negativity might be beneficial, but ultimately, for nation building, there must also be some positive thinking. Keep the negativity within respectable bounds and focus on nation building, this is my hope,” he said.
Speaking at the start of the Winter Session of Parliament. May the session witness productive discussions. https://t.co/7e6UuclIoz
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 1, 2025
Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the Prime Minister had engaged in “dramabazi delivery” instead of addressing pressing public issues.
“The reality is that the government has been continuously trampling parliamentary decorum and the parliamentary system for the past 11 years,” he wrote on X, pointing to Bills being passed “in haste, some in less than 15 minutes and some without any discussion at all.”
Kharge said the Opposition would continue to raise concerns about “vote theft” and the intense pressure on Booth Level Officers during the ongoing SIR.
“The entire country has previously witnessed how you bulldozed anti-farmer black laws, GST, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and such Bills through Parliament in a frantic rush,” he wrote. “The BJP should now end this drama of distraction and engage in debate in Parliament on the real issues facing the people.”
शीतकालीन सत्र के पहले दिन प्रधानमंत्री @narendramodi जी ने संसद के समक्ष मुख्य मुद्दों की बात करने के बजाय फ़िर से “ड्रामेबाज़ी की डिलीवरी” की है !
असलियत यह है कि संसदीय मर्यादा और संसदीय प्रणाली को पिछले 11 साल से सरकार ने लगातार कुचला है उसकी लंबी फेहरिस्त है ।
🔸 पिछले…
— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) December 1, 2025
Similarly, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh accused the Prime Minister of “undermining Parliament,” and pointed to Modi’s frequent absence from discussions.
“The PM never attends Parliament and undermines it. He never engages with the Opposition. Yet before every session he will stand outside the Parliament building and speak grandly to the nation asking for constructive cooperation from the Opposition to ensure the smooth functioning of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha,” he wrote in a post on X.
“If Parliament doesn’t function smoothly the fault is entirely that of the PM and his stubborn refusal to allow the Opposition to raise issues of urgent public importance. He wants to always have his way without giving the Opposition an opportunity to at least have its say. The PM’s statement before Parliament begins is nothing but hypocrisy. The biggest dramabaaz of them all is talking of drama.”
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi said raising public issues in Parliament “isn’t drama,” and questioned the purpose of Parliament if such issues were not discussed.
“Speaking about and raising urgent public issues in Parliament isn’t drama. Drama is not allowing democratic discussions about issues that matter to the public. I suggest we talk about urgent issues like election situation, SIR, and pollution, they’re crucial for democracy. What is the Parliament for? Why aren’t we discussing these things?” she said, speaking to reporters.
Samajwadi Party MP Awadhesh Prasad, reacting to Modi’s remarks, accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of being “masters” of drama.
“BJP members perform all kinds of drama. Their drama is unmatched in the world. These allegations are baseless. They are masters of drama,” he told ANI.
Similarly, All India Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee questioned how the demand for a debate on the SIR and electoral reforms could be termed drama.
“40 people have lost their lives because of the way the SIR was hastily implemented without consulting any of the stakeholders in the state government. The BLOs appointed by the Election Commission (EC) have put the onus on the EC. People have no problem standing in lines and filling out forms, but where is the government’s accountability? People stood in queues 10 years back when demonetisation was announced, hoping that black money would be eradicated from the country,” he said, ANI reported.
“10 years later, the volume of black money has further increased. The terrorists are coming from borders which are supposed to be protected by the Union government. Blasts are happening in the National Capital. Where is the accountability? If they think that just by winning a couple of state elections they are not answerable to the people, why is the government on the back foot even after winning elections and doesn’t want to discuss SIR or electoral reforms? What is stopping them? All the funds meant for West Bengal, around Rs 1 lakh 94 thousand, are due, which is the people’s right. We are against the method and mechanism by which SIR has been implemented.”
AICC Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi said the government was refusing to commit to a discussion that it did not want.
“The people of the ruling party only want to discuss the laws brought by them. All opposition parties have just one demand, that there should be a discussion on the electoral process, but the government is unable to say on which day this discussion will take place.”
He said the ruling party had “hijacked the dignity of the entire House and democracy.”
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
