Senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala on Saturday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of making Parliament a "hostage" by blocking discussions, and claimed that it was Rahul Gandhi who forced the Narendra Modi government to engage with the opposition and hear the voices of all parties.

According to news agency PTI, Surjewala was responding to comments made earlier in the day by Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, who had said, "The standard of debates in the Lok Sabha has gone down since Rahul Gandhi's arrival."