New Delhi, Aug 3: The opposition insisted during the business advisory committee (BAC) meetings of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha that a discussion be held on the alleged theft of donations at the Ram temple in Ayodhya and Home Minister Amit Shah should make a statement on the “police excesses” against students, sources said on Monday.
They said the stalemate is likely to continue with both the government and the opposition sticking to their respective stances.
The government slammed the opposition, particularly the Congress, for proceedings of both Houses being disrupted.
Reacting to the disruptions in the parliamentary proceedings, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said, “Today, two very important bills were passed — one regarding increasing the number of judges in the Supreme Court and another concerning MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises). There was nobody left in the opposition who wanted to participate.
“We urged everyone and I even asked Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge ji to reason with his Congress MPs so they would at least participate in the bill discussion. But he couldn’t even manage his own Congress MPs; their behaviour was terrible.”
Rijiju said there is no one in the Lok Sabha to guide the Congress MPs.
“Rahul Gandhi ji didn’t even show up today, and no one else could guide them. The Congress party has completely fallen apart. Such important bills came up, yet they chose not to participate,” he said.
The Congress leaders go outside and claim they are not given a chance to speak when the government genuinely wants all MPs to speak on important bills, Rijiju said.
“I am deeply hurt. My biggest sorrow is that there is no one left to guide Congress MPs anymore. That is a very sad state of affairs,” he said.
Speaking with reporters, Congress’ Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi, who attended the Lok Sabha BAC meeting, said, “Our demand is clear; PM Modi may have forgiven students but the youth of the country have not forgiven the home minister. It is a clear demand of the Congress that the home minister should come to the House and give a statement on the action by security forces on the protesting students on July 20.”
“We have seen how girls and boys are being targeted. The (BJP) IT cell people have fallen to the extent that girls are being abused online. Will an FIR be filed against IT cell people who are abusing girls and their parents and making their numbers and addresses public?” Gogoi said.
He said the Congress raised the same issues during the meeting that it has been raising from the very beginning.
“If you can hold a discussion on the NEET examination, then you should also discuss the Ayodhya Ram Temple Trust, where it has now come to light that crores of rupees in donation money have allegedly ended up in the VHP office. This is a very serious, shocking, unfortunate and deeply painful matter,” Gogoi said, adding, “Shouldn’t the prime minister speak on this issue?”
The Lok Sabha on Monday passed a bill to replace an ordinance that increased the number of Supreme Court judges from 34 to 38 without a debate as opposition members persisted with slogan-shouting over the issues of NEET paper leak and alleged theft of Ram temple donations.
After the passage of the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026, the House was adjourned for the day.
The Rajya Sabha on Monday passed a bill that seeks to tackle the issue of delayed payments to MSMEs by prescribing timelines to ensure faster adjudication of disputes, provide recovery of the settlement agreement and address their liquidity issues, even as opposition members continued to disrupt the House.
The Upper House was adjourned for the day soon after the passage of the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises Development (Amendment) Bill, 2026, that seeks to empower courts to order payment of at least 50 per cent of the awarded amount to MSME suppliers, if the application to set aside an order is pending for more than six months. (PTI)
