Modi Gov't Slammed For Passing '12 Bills in Under 7 Minutes Each' Without Discussion

Frequent disruptions, uproar, and interruptions by opposition parties on a number of issues, including the Pegasus spyware scandal and farmers' protests have been stalling the Indian Parliament's proceedings of late.

Trinamool Congress lawmaker Derek O'Brien has criticised the federally ruling National Democratic Alliance led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for passing several bills without discussing them first in Parliament.

"The government is rushing to pass bills through Parliament at an average time of under seven minutes per bill," O'Brien tweeted, sarcastically referring to the process to making "papri chaat," an Indian street snack, which takes a few minutes to prepare.

#MASTERSTROKE #Parliament

In the first 10 days, Modi-Shah rushed through and passed 12 Bills at an average time of UNDER SEVEN MINUTES per Bill 😡(See shocking chart👇)

Passing legislation or making papri chaat! pic.twitter.com/9plJOr5YbP

— Derek O'Brien | ডেরেক ও'ব্রায়েন (@derekobrienmp) August 2, 2021

O'Brien further accused the government of violating the "sanctity of Parliament."

He raised a similar issue in 2019 when the government passed several bills without putting them up for discussion first.

"Parliament is supposed to scrutinise the bills… So are we delivering pizza or passing Bills?" he wondered in 2019.

#Parliament is supposed to scrutinise Bills. This chart explains the bulldozing this Session. Are we delivering pizzas or passing legislation? #ConstructiveOpposition pic.twitter.com/DKPDygpoV5

— Derek O'Brien | ডেরেক ও'ব্রায়েন (@derekobrienmp) July 31, 2019

Meanwhile, last week Prime Minister Narendra Modi lashed out at the Congress party for disrupting parliamentary proceedings by holding placards with slogans and demanding the government prioritise certain issues, including investigating the alleged spying on Indian nationals using Pegasus software, last February's Delhi riots, and farmer protests.