Tracing the Congress 'Videshi Chingaari' From 2014 to 2024

Against this backdrop, a significant development has emerged ahead of Budget 2025. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has remarked that this Budget Session is set to commence without the usual disruptions—particularly those fueled by external influences- for the first time in a decade. His remark of “no videshi chingaari” serves as a pointed reminder of how foreign elements have previously played a role in derailing parliamentary discussions and affecting legislative productivity.

The repeated disruptions by the Opposition have not only stalled progress but also wasted taxpayer money. The concern is that the nation is paying the price for a Parliament paralysed by partisan agendas. It is said that the cost of disruptions is high — not only in terms of wasted taxpayer money (Rs 2.5 lakh per minute) but also in terms of the loss to democratic processes.

“For the first time, no spark has been ignited abroad… nor is there anyone to fan the flames… This is the first session where neither external influences nor internal forces have set events into motion…I have been observing for the last 10 years, before every season, people get ready to do mischief and here, we know that there is no shortage of people to escalate it,” PM Modi said.

His remarks are both a pointed jab at the Opposition and a message of optimism. A Parliament that functions smoothly, without disruptions, reflects the evolution of a democracy that values prioritizes governance over disorder. After all, there’s no spark without a flame, and with no external ‘chingaari’ this time.

This marks a stark contrast to previous years—2024, 2023, 2022, and even earlier. For nearly a decade, not a single parliamentary session has gone uninterrupted, consistently derailed by external influences or disturbances.

Here’s a list of the unnecessary sparks that have unfairly ignited the Indian Parliament, without having led to any constructive end.

Starting from 2024, tracing back the disruptions to 2014:

2024: Desperation of INDI alliance

The alliance MPs staged a walkout in Lok Sabha over the arrest of former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren by the Enforcement Directorate earlier this week. It was not new because staging walk-outs had become a phenomenon with the Opposition, led by Congress. INDIA bloc MPs, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, staged a protest in Parliament premises on July 24 over the alleged discrimination against opposition-ruled States in the Union Budget.

2023: BBC documentary on Gujarat riots, Hindenburg Report’s against Adani Group & Manipur violence caused the real chingaari

Opposition MPs in 2023 protested and demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe into the Adani case or wanted a Supreme Court-monitored committee investigation in the wake of the issues raised by Hindenburg research. There was a lot of uproar on the BBC documentary on the Gujarat riots, too. Despite the Supreme Court giving a clean chit to PM Modi in this matter, the release sparked significant political and public reactions. The controversial documentary was aired just days ahead of the Budget Session 2023, which raised eyebrows then. Reports emerged that the documentary was driven by a specific agenda, with China orchestrating the conspiracy. However, this documentary was not the only curiously timed video released ahead of a session.

Hindenburg Research published a report on the Adani group on January 24 coming days ahead of the 2023 Budget Session of the Parliament. The impact of the Hindenburg report was such that the conglomerate’s listed entities shed around $150 billion (12.41 lakh crore) in market capitalisation just a month following its release. The fact that Hindenburg released this just a few days before an important day in Parliament, was seen as a calculated effort to disrupt the market and Budget session.


There were persistent protests by the Opposition over the violence in Manipur, and a no-confidence motion was subsequently moved against the government during the Monsoon session. But, the timing of the release of the video of the May 4 incident surfaced on July 19, a day before the Monsoon session of Parliament. raised pertinent queries. CM Biren Singh had also asserted that the Manipur crisis was fueled by outsiders after a Burmese cadre of the Kuki National Army was nabbed by the Assam Rifles.

2022: Chinese Aggression

The Monsoon Session of Parliament ended on August 8, four days ahead of its schedule. In 16 sittings against the scheduled 18, the Parliament functioned for less than 50 per cent of the allotted time as multiple adjournments disrupted proceedings over several issues, including the suspension of MPs, the alleged misuse of central investigating agencies, and protests over inflation and price rise. According to PRS, this session was one of the least productive since 2014.

The Winter Session of Parliament concluded on December 23 — a week ahead of its schedule amid protests by the Opposition over the clash between India and Chinese troops in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang on December 9, 2022. Opposition MPs submitted an adjournment motion notice demanding a discussion of the border clash despite Defence Minister Rajnath Singh making a statement on the clash.

2021: Farmers Protests


The session started with the Opposition boycotting the President’s Address in support of farmers agitating against the three farm laws. Both Houses also saw disruptions on the issue of farmers’ protests. Foreign “personalities” like American pop singer Rihanna and so-called activist Greta Thunberg had voiced their ‘support” for farmer's protests’ in India. It should be noted that the central government had stated in front of the Supreme Court that some banned organisations including ‘Khalistanis’ have infiltrated these protests. Moreover, Thunberg stormed the internet with a toolkit that contained guidelines for organizing events to support the farmers' protest

The chaos also took over the Monsoon Session 2021 which ended two days ahead of schedule after being regularly disrupted by protests by the Opposition parties over Pegasus spyware, and the farmers’ protest. The Winter Session of Parliament also witnessed the suspension of 12 Rajya Sabha MPs for the rest of the session. The ruckus broke out in the House on August 11, the last day of the monsoon session, when some opposition MPs climbed on a Rajya Sabha officials’ table, raised slogans, and threw files when the House began a discussion on farmers’ protest against laws.

2020: CAA protests & COVID


After the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 came into force on January 10, a resolution at the end of the month at the European Parliament denouncing the act as “discriminatory” and “dangerously divisive” with the potential to create “the largest statelessness crisis in the world” even as the US too underscored the principle of equal protection under the law. Soon after this, top Congress leaders led by Sonia Gandhi on Friday staged a protest near Mahatma Gandhi's statue in the Parliament complex to save the Constitution and express solidarity with those protesting against the Citizenship Act, NRC and NPR.

The remaining sessions were affected due to the Covid-19 pandemic significantly reducing the number of parliamentary sittings.

2019: CAA


The year began with the opposition raising allegations of EVM tampering, questioning the credibility of the electoral process. In the Winter Session, disruptions over Rahul Gandhi’s “rape in India” remark and the Citizenship Amendment Bill led to significant unrest. Several reports reveal that “outsiders” were involved in the protests with the help of the Opposition.



2018: Rafale Deal


This year’s sessions were stormed with the Rafale deal controversy. The Opposition had relentlessly raised questions over the financial terms of the agreement and alleged crony capitalism while the government rubbished the accusations.

2015: The Start of Disruptions

As many as 25 MPs were suspended for five days for “persistently, willfully obstructing” the House”. The Congress members who were carrying placards and shouting slogans in the Well while pressing for the resignation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje over Lalit Modi row and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan over Vyapam scam.


Ahead of the presentation of Budget 2025, Congress once again attempted to create controversy and disrupt Parliament proceedings. While responding to media queries on the President's address, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi remarked, "The poor lady, the President, was getting very tired by the end ... she could hardly speak, poor thing," making a disrespectful comment about the President of India. This appears to be yet another tactic to derail parliamentary sessions.

In a rapidly advancing nation like India, every disrupted session represents a missed opportunity for progress. A strong opposition fuels democracy through constructive debate, not chaos—because democracy works best when voices are heard, not silenced by disruption whether it is by foreign or domestic chingari.