Opposition parties get more speaking time than NDA in Lok Sabha: Govt data

New Delhi: Opposition parties received more speaking time proportionally in the 17th Lok Sabha, and time allocated to them accounted for approximately 46 per cent of the total discussion time in the House, data with the government accessed by DH shows.

Some of this data was cited by the Home Minister in his speech in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. In comparison, the NDA’s time accounted for approximately 38 per cent. Of this, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s time accounted for only 26.53 per cent.

“Congress had 52 members in the 17th Lok Sabha and 12 per cent of the speaking time which translates to 0.231 per cent of the total time per member. BJP had 302 members and 26.53 per cent of the speaking time, or 0.088 per cent per member. Congress members spoke approximately 2.63 times more per person,” government sources said.

In comparison, the NDA had a majority of approximately 65 per cent in the 17th Lok Sabha. “Despite this, the Presiding Chair allocated approximately 61.05 per cent of the total discussion time – approximately 807 hours – to the Opposition and non-NDA parties,” sources said.

Blaming the Opposition for continued disruptions, government officials said that these adjournments costed the state exchequer Rs 3,300 crore loss.

“Running Parliamentary proceedings costs approximately Rs 2.5 lakh per minute, approximately Rs 1.5 crore per hour, and approximately Rs 9 crore per day. Between 2014 and 2024, the Congress party-led government has incurred a total loss of over Rs 3,300 crore due to repeated disruptions to Parliamentary proceedings,” sources said.

Citing instances, sources said that in 2018, approximately 39 per cent of the Lok Sabha’s scheduled discussion time was lost due to frequent disruptions, while in the Rajya Sabha, 53 per cent of the working time was lost. “The estimated economic loss from Parliamentary proceedings in that year alone was approximately Rs 494 crore,” sources said.

In 2023, disruptions also resulted in a loss of more than half the scheduled working time of both Houses of Parliament, resulting in an estimated economic loss of approximately Rs 386 crore, they added.

And in the 2025 Monsoon Session, the Lok Sabha functioned for only 37 of the scheduled 120 hours, while Rajya Sabha proceedings were limited to approximately 41 hours. “These disruptions resulted in an economic loss of approximately Rs 298 crore in this session alone,” sources said.