Uncertainty over key bills as Cong vows to resist; Monsoon session heading for washout

With only four days remaining in the Monsoon session, the fate of major bills on women's reservation, delimitation and the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) remains uncertain amid the ongoing logjam in Parliament.

None of these bills figured in the list of business for the Lok Sabha for Monday.

While a few opposition parties have shown signs of mellowing their stand on the women's quota and delimitation bills after the government's outreach, the Congress and most of its allies have vowed to oppose any move to bring in these legislation and the FCRA Amendment Bill.

The Constitution Amendment Bill that proposes 33 per cent reservation for women in 2029 and a redrawing of Lok Sabha constituencies to expand the House was defeated in April due to failure to secure a two-thirds majority.

The FCRA Amendment Bill, 2026, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on March 25 this year and is to be taken up for discussion and passage.

"If the central government thinks they can cook up and introduce the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill within these two or three days, they should keep that wish to themselves," AICC general secretary KC Venugopal said on Sunday.

Venugopal alleged that the proposed legislation targeted minorities and NGOs and said the opposition would not allow it to be passed.

"Even if Amit Shah comes to pass this anti-people bill, there is no doubt that he will have to face strong protests in Parliament. This bill is unconstitutional and anti-people. We will not allow such an anti-people and unconstitutional bill to be passed," Venugopal told reporters in Alappuzha, Kerala.

The FCRA bill seeks to significantly tighten the oversight of foreign-funded organisations, proposing creation of a powerful new authority to seize and manage the assets of non-profits that lose their licence. It has met with strong opposition from Christian organisations apart from political parties.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Sunday recalled how an unprecedented number of 146 MPs were suspended during the 2023 Winter Session of Parliament and multiple significant laws were passed in the presence of minimal opposition, as he asserted that "history should not repeat itself".

With no let-up in the protests by the opposition parties, which are demanding Home Minister Amit Shah's statement on the police action against students agitating on the NEET paper leak issue, the Monsoon session of Parliament appears headed for a near-complete washout.

The monsoon session, which started on July 20, has seen repeated adjournments and virtually no business except the debate on the anti-paper leaks bill -- The Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026 -- which was passed by both Houses of Parliament.

Three more bills were passed in the two Houses with little or no debate and two other bills were passed by the Lok Sabha, amid unrelenting protests by the Opposition.

The opposition parties initially protested over the NEET paper leaks and alleged theft of donations at the Ayodhya Ram temple. They later pressed for a discussion on police action against students protesting over the NEET paper leaks and also demanded the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Home Minister and their statements.

Last week, the government made several attempts to reach out to the opposition as well as its allies seeking their support for the women reservation and delimitation bills, but received little success.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju had met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi twice in a bid to end the impasse. The minister also had telephonic conversations with Gandhi.

Sources said when Rijiju sought Congress support in the passage of the women reservation and delimitation bills, the leader of opposition insisted on convening an all-party meeting on the proposed legislations.

Both the leaders also sparred on social media on Saturday over the women's quota and delimitation bills.

The government floor managers are trying to gauge the views of other opposition leaders, including Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, and DMK leadership on the women reservation and delimitation bills.

However, DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin on Friday told a TV news channel that his party has neither supported the delimitation bill in the past nor will it support it in the future.

The DMK is no longer part of the INDIA bloc after Congress joined the TVK government in Tamil Nadu. With 22 Lok Sabha members, it has emerged as the third-largest Opposition party in the Lower House.

In the Rajya Sabha, its eight members make the DMK the second-largest Opposition party.

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), which left the ruling NDA six years ago over the now-repealed three agriculture laws, on Saturday extended its support to the women reservation bill and the delimitation bills for a uniform 50 per cent increase in seats for states. The Punjab-based party has just one Lok Sabha MP.

The SAD statement came a day after party chief Sukhbir Singh Badal met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, triggering a buzz that it will rejoin the NDA ahead of the state assembly elections next year.

A meeting called by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay and attended by a section of the state's MPs on Saturday adopted a resolution against the delimitation and demanded a freeze of Lok Sabha seats at 543.

The meeting was boycotted by the main opposition party, the DMK, and the AIADMK.

NCP (SP) working president Supriya Sule on Saturday said it would be premature to comment on the delimitation bill. “When it comes, we will discuss every Bill with our alliance partners,” she said.

She, however, opposed the FCRA bill in its present form, saying one cannot always view foreign funding with suspicion, and urged the Centre to either withdraw it or refer it to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC).

Sule had also said that a delegation of eight MPs belonging to NCP (SP) will meet the PM at his Parliament office on Monday.

Following her statement, the Congress asked Sule to use her scheduled meeting with the Prime Minister to make the INDIA bloc’s opposition to linking the implementation of the Women’s Reservation Act with delimitation “unequivocally clear”.

DMK chief MK Stalin also urged the Centre to withdraw the FCRA bill and said a delegation led by party MP P Wilson recently met Shah to press the demand.

A three-day special sitting was convened from April 16 to 18 for getting the Parliament's approval to the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, but for the first time a bill under the Modi government was defeated.

The bill fell short of the constitutionally mandated two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha, with 298 members voting in favour and 230 opposing it.

The government's numbers have since improved marginally. The NDA's strength in the Lok Sabha now stands at 299 following the merger of seven Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs with the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.

Among the 20 NCPI MPs, three Muslim lawmakers remained non-committal about their allegiance towards the NDA. But the government is still well short of the 360 votes required to pass a constitutional amendment based on the current effective strength of the House.

There is another view that even if the women reservation and delimitation bills are delayed till the Winter session, there is enough room for their implementation by the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.

The Congress on Friday issued a whip to its MPs in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, asking them to be present in their respective Houses on August 10, 11 and 12 as "very important" issues will be taken up for discussion. It also conveyed to all its INDIA bloc allies to ensure that their MPs remain present on all three days, sources said.

Four bills have been included in the Lok Sabha agenda for Monday. They are — The Tribunal Reforms Bill, 2026, the Minerals and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, The Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026 and The National Co-operative Development Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2026.