Opposition brings Parliament to a standstill
Opposition protests over the alleged NEET paper leak and Ram temple donation theft issues disrupted Lok Sabha proceedings on Monday, forcing both Houses of Parliament to wrap up for the day after multiple adjournments on the opening day of the Monsoon Session.
The Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned for the day at around 3 pm after the House reassembled six times following disruptions. It was earlier adjourned at 2.30 pm as Opposition MPs continued their protest despite presiding officer Jagdambika Pal appealing to them to allow the House to take up matters of public importance under Rule 377 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha.
Similarly, the Rajya Sabha too was adjourned for the day to meet on Tuesday as Opposition members led by the Congress demanded action against the guilty in the medical entrance examination question paper leak.
After the papers were tabled in the Upper House, Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge rose to speak on the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak, saying the issue concerned the future of lakhs of students.
“Thousands of students have reached Jantar Mantar (where the protest is on), and they were lathi-charged,” he said. “The government is trying to beat them down and suppress the issue,” Kharge said, as Opposition members shouted “shame, shame”.
Amid the uproar, the Chairman adjourned the House till noon. Opposition members continued raising slogans in favour of protesting students and the subsequent police action against them. They were also raising slogans against donation theft at Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.
Earlier, at 2 pm, Pal said there was adequate quorum to conduct business, but some Opposition MPs alleged they were being prevented from entering the House. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the House could not function if the disruptions continued.
Previously, as soon as the House met at 11 am, opposition members started raising slogans, forcing Speaker Om Birla to adjourn the proceedings till 12 noon as the Question Hour was being taken up. Birla objected to two members raising slogans when obituary references were read out on the demise of six former MPs, saying it was not a good precedent.
When the House met again at 12 noon, noisy protests continued and the House was adjourned till 12:30 pm. Before the proceedings were adjourned, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal introduced a bill to replace an ordinance which increased the number of Supreme Court judges from 34 to 38, including the Chief Justice of India.
Similar disruption was witnessed at 12:30 pm when repeated pleas by the Chair to take up Zero Hour failed to get a positive response from opposition members. Dilip Saikia, who was in the Chair, adjourned the proceedings till 1 pm. When the House met at 1 PM, the protests by the opposition continued.
