PM expresses disappointment over Opposition’s absence from debates over crucial Bills

At the customary end of session tea held after the conclusion of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday (August 21, 2025) noted with disappointment the lack of debates due to disruption, leading to the passage of several Bills amid the Opposition’s protests, adding that bright and young MPs of the Congress did not get to participate in discussions due to the “insecurity” of its leadership.

Parliament Monsoon Session: Follow highlights, major updates on August 21, 2025

The customary tea is hosted by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in his chambers and was attended by leaders of the NDA allies and in the absence of the Opposition.

Sources present at the meeting said Mr. Modi did not name Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in the Lower House, who is leading his Congress’s agitation against the Election Commission’s drive to revise electoral rolls in Bihar, but his remarks were apparently aimed at him.

He reportedly said the Monsoon session covered several important Bills and regretted that they could not be discussed in Parliament. Mr. Modi singled out the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, which bans all real-money games and was passed by the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha without discussion due to din, for praise and its wide positive implications due to the adverse impact on society by these online games.

With Opposition leaders skipping the meeting, one of the leaders present at the get-together remarked that it had become increasingly difficult to bring the Congress on board as few of its leaders, who the government interacts with regularly, can influence the party’s decision, the Prime Minister responded to this and said the Opposition had some bright young MPs.

They may be making the leadership “insecure”, he said, according to the sources. This is not the first time Mr. Modi had expressed these views while criticising the Gandhi family for putting its own interest above anything else.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, speaking later, added that Congress functionaries who attend the meeting with the government over the business in Parliament often come to some understanding but cannot implement it. They might be facing pressure, he said, in an apparent swipe at Mr. Gandhi.