Govt offers talks on student stir with caveat

The ruling NDA combine is keen to end the ongoing impasse in Parliament, which has been a near washout, and is willing to have discussions on student protests, the Ram Temple donation issue and the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).

With just two days left for the Monsoon session of Parliament to end, it is the latest move by the Government to end the deadlock with the opposition. However, the Government has set terms for Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s reply on the students’ stir, saying it would include the agitations in Opposition-ruled Punjab and Jharkhand as well, sources said. Moreover, the Government has conveyed to the Opposition that there should be a proper discussion on the issue before Shah responds. “Issuing a statement will only be a formality; we want proper discussion and not just a statement,” Government sources said.

The Government is also trying to build consensus on referring the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for review amid continuing deadlock with the Opposition, it was learnt on Tuesday.

Sources also said the Monsoon Session of Parliament will conclude on Friday and the chances of taking up the Bill for discussion are bleak. But if there is consensus, the Government can make a statement on sending it to a JPC.

Parliament has barely functioned since July 20, when a police crackdown against student protesters during their march to the Parliament, which brought central Delhi to a standstill. Several students and cops were injured as the protesters, led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), demanded the resignation of the then Union education minister, Dharmendra Pradhan over exam paper leaks.

Pradhan resigned on July 30, but the Congress and the Opposition stepped up their protests over the alleged police excesses on students. Videos and images later surfaced showing protesters with pellet injuries.

Since then, the Opposition has maintained that the deadlock in Parliament would continue till Amit Shah made a statement over the police action on students in the Capital.

Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi has particularly urged Shah to tell the Parliament who ordered the “firing against students” on July 20, saying that he was “not interested in fantasy conversations”.

“The question was never that Amit Shah is going to come and give a speech in Parliament. The question was always that Amit Shah has to make it clear who authorised the shooting in Delhi,” Rahul said at a press conference on Monday.

Rahul has also demanded an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the affected students and called for accountability over the donation theft in Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. The Congress MP has termed these three demands as “non-negotiables” to break the Parliament logjam.

Sources said the Government is also willing to debate on Rahul’s demand for a discussion on the alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram Temple. However, any discussion will take place after a debate on the other issues.

Another bone of contention between the Government and the opposition has been the proposed amendments to the FCRA Bill.

However, the opposition itself seems to be divided on the FCRA bill itself. The sticking point is the provision that the bill proposes the creation of a designated authority to oversee foreign contributions and assets of organisations whose FCRA registration is cancelled.

The Opposition and some outfits have argued that it would increase Government control over civil society and disrupt nonprofit work.

While Congress has demanded the withdrawal of the FCRA Bill, other parties have taken different positions. Sources said the Trinamool Congress (TMC) initially wanted the Bill to be referred to a JPC. However, it later demanded that it be withdrawn.

The DMK has taken a middle position, communicating that the Bill either be withdrawn or sent to a JPC. Naveen Patnaik’s BJD, meanwhile, has sought that the legislation be referred to a JPC.