A video grab of Union Minister Kiren Rijiju speaking in Lok Sabha during the Budget Session, in New Delhi. Photo Credit: Sansad TV via ANI)
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Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Monday (February 16, 2026) claimed that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is not interested in the smooth functioning of Parliament, and some NGOs have tutored him that “good days” will come for his party and that is why he has been stalling the House.
Mr. Rijiju also said that the government is not going to take any more extra steps to “placate” the Congress to defuse the situation in Parliament as he had made “many attempts” so that the House functions properly, but in vain.
“Rahul Gandhi is not interested in running the House. He is interested in making issues. Rahul Gandhi was tutored by some NGOs that your days will come. But their days won’t come. In the next elections, their tally (in the Lok Sabha) will further go down,” he told PTI in an interview in Tawang, in Arunachal Pradesh.
Mr. Rijiju, who is on a visit to his Lok Sabha constituency Arunachal West, said the ruling alliance has no problem with the Opposition stalling the House as he had made many attempts to defuse the situation, including speaking to senior Congress leader K.C. Venugopal and a few others.
“We are not going to do anything extra to placate the Congress. The Congress is frustrated because the party is losing election after election. They are desperate to change the situation,” he said.
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The Union Minister claimed that there was pressure on the Congress from the smaller parties in Parliament to not stall the House because they lose out their time to speak.
“All Opposition is not with the Congress. Smaller parties are not being able to utilise their respective party time. Smaller parties are unhappy with Rahul Gandhi. Some of them have not even signed the Motion against the Speaker,” he said.
Mr. Rijiju said some members of other political parties kept telling him that they wanted the House to function.
Most days of the first part of the Budget Session in the Lok Sabha witnessed disruptions and adjournments after Mr. Gandhi was disallowed by the Chair from quoting an article based on excerpts of former Army chief M.M. Naravane’s “unpublished memoir”, which has references to the India-China conflict of 2020.
Eight Opposition members were suspended for the remainder of the Budget Session for unruly behaviour in the House.
The Opposition also moved a No-confidence Motion against Speaker Om Birla for his removal from office, alleging that he had acted in a “blatantly partisan” manner.
The Speaker last week decided to step aside from his role as the presiding officer of the House, hours after the Opposition submitted the motion for his removal from office, alleging that he had acted in a “blatantly partisan” manner.
The Budget Session, which started with the President’s address to the joint sitting of Parliament, on January 28 and went on recess on February 12, 2026. The Budget 2026 was presented on February 1, 2026. The session will be reconvened on March 9 and will end on April 2, 2026.
Published – February 16, 2026 11:35 am IST
