Opposition in Rajya Sabha slams address by the President

The Rajya Sabha began a debate on Monday (February 2, 2026) on a motion moved by BJP leader and nominated MP C. Sadanandan Master to thank President Droupadi Murmu for her address to the joint session of Parliament. While the treasury benches hailed her speech as pragmatic, the Opposition said it did not reflect the realities of the present state of the country.

Questioning the Left parties’ stand on democracy, citing an attack on him 30 years ago, Mr. Sadanandan exhibited his artificial limbs and alleged that CPI(M) workers attacked him and cut his legs. CPI(M) member John Brittas protested the exhibition of the artificial legs and later Mr. Sadanandan removed it from the top of his desk. He urged the Opposition to take a uniform stand on issues of national interest and stop opposing the Narendra Modi government for the sake of opposing. He said the country’s economic status had improved due to the efforts by the Modi government. “If Bharat is standing tall on the global stage, it is only because of the ‘sadhana’ and uncompromising resolve of our Prime Minister. We have moved from the fragility of promises to solidity of delivering,” the BJP leader said, adding that corruption was a thing of the past at present.

Attacking the Kerala government, he said youth from the State were migrating due to its policies. “Our youth in Kerala are migrating. It is not because of lack of talent — they are migrating because opportunities have been systematically denied. Kerala has now become an old-age home. About 4.5 lakh youth are migrating,” Mr. Sadanandan said.

The first speaker from the Opposition, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh said the Narendra Modi government was “anti-poor and anti-farmer.” The senior MP also demanded an explanation from the government on the remarks by former Army chief M.M. Naravane on the 2020 India-China conflict in his unpublished memoirs. Mr. Singh, mentioning Lok Sabha Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi’s statement on the matter, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi must reply to the issue. “The Prime Minister should also respond to whatever Major General M.M. Naravane has said,” Mr. Singh added.

Citing a Comptroller and Auditor General report, Mr. Singh added that the skilling scheme Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) brought out several discrepancies in its implementation. He said inequality was rising in the country as the government ignored issues of workers and farmers. “Are you able to provide equal opportunities and justice to minorities? This government is anti-poor, anti-labour and anti-farmers,” the Congress MP said, adding that democracy was under threat because of extremist forces among minority and majority communities.

‘Norms being flouted’

Trinamool Congress MP Sagarika Ghose said the President’s speech was denying the present-day reality. DMK MP Tiruchi Siva alleged parliamentary democracy norms were being flouted; Bills were being bulldozed, and the voices of opposition parties were being strangled. “The D grade government is in denial of the problem, practices distraction and uses division as a political strategy,” Ms. Ghose said. AAP MP Sanjay Singh raised the issue of special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in various States and said the entire exercise was a “scam”. “This isn’t SIR. This is an election scam,” he said.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut demanded an independent judicial inquiry into the death of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. Rashtriya Janata Dal leader A.D. Singh said the presidential address painted a picture of an India that was uniformly prosperous, inclusive, corruption-free and confidently marching towards Viksit Bharat. “Sadly, this picture is selective, celebratory and disconnected from the reality of millions of Indians,” Mr. Singh said.