Washout in both Houses amid Opposition uproar over paper leaks, police action

Speaking to The Indian Express on Tuesday evening, Congress whip in Lok Sabha Manickam Tagore said the party has three demands from the government. “One is that there should be a discussion on paper leaks and the NEET examination. The second is resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan, and third is scrapping all FIRs lodged against the protesters,” he said.  “You have to understand that our leader (Rahul Gandhi) met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday, requesting allocation of time for a discussion on the NEET issue. We got no conclusive answer. He (Rahul) then went to meet the injured students and thereafter led a protest outside the PM residence. Despite all this, the government isn’t budging,” added Tagore.

Meanwhile, the day’s proceedings on Tuesday saw multiple adjournments in both Houses.

Scant legislative business could be taken up in the Upper House with three consecutive adjournments in the face of Opposition members from across party lines raising banners and slogans in the House.

While the Lok Sabha saw two successive adjournments before its proceedings were suspended for the day, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned within a minute of Deputy Chairperson Harivansh taking the seat as Opposition leaders stood up and raised slogans. Harivansh repeatedly urged the members to take their seats but to no avail.

“If you all keep standing, keep making noise, you don’t want to allow the parliament to function,” he said, adding that whatever discussion the members wanted, they should seek permission from the Chairperson as per the House rules.

“These are the etiquettes of the House… There are some rules and regulations for discussions in Parliament; rules and regulations made by you,” he said before adjourning the House for the day.

While the day’s scheduled papers were laid as scheduled, no further proceedings could take place with regard to the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026, which seeks to increase the sanctioned strength of Supreme Court judges from 34 to 38, and was tabled in the Lok Sabha by Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Monday.

In the Lower House, Opposition MPs kept raising slogans demanding a discussion on both the NEET paper leak as well as the use of tear gas shells and lathi-charge against protesters who had taken to the streets demanding Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation. Speaker Om Birla adjourned the House for the day after witnessing two repeated disruptions.

Earlier, a delegation of Opposition leaders led by Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi met Birla and put forward their demand for a discussion on the “brutality unleashed on students” and the “government’s complete lack of accountability for the examination crisis”.