The opening day of Parliament's Monsoon Session turned into a washout, with anger over the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak repeatedly stalling proceedings in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on Monday. Opposition MPs raised slogans demanding accountability for alleged irregularities in the exam, protested the police action taken against agitating students, and pressed for the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. The tension was not confined to the House alone, it spilled outside the Parliament complex as well, where protesters and police remained locked in a standoff for hours. The chaos on day one signalled that the rest of the session was unlikely to go smoothly either.
Lok Sabha adjourned six times through the day
Business in the Lok Sabha got underway at 11 am, but opposition members began shouting slogans almost as soon as the House assembled. As Question Hour began, the noise grew loud enough that Speaker Om Birla was forced to adjourn the House until noon. Even after members reconvened, the disruptions resumed just as quickly, and the House ended up being adjourned six times in total over the course of the day, before proceedings were finally called off for the day at around 3 pm without any substantive debate.
Kharge accuses government of trying to suppress the issue
The upper House told a similar story. Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge raised the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak issue, saying it concerned the future of lakhs of students across the country. He alleged that students protesting at Jantar Mantar had been baton-charged and accused the government of trying to bury and delay the entire matter. Beyond voicing support for the students, opposition members also raised slogans over an alleged donation scam linked to the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Deputy Chairman Harivansh repeatedly appealed to members to preserve the dignity of the House and raise their concerns through debate instead, but the uproar refused to die down. The Rajya Sabha was eventually adjourned five times before being called off for the day.
One bill gets introduced, another gets stalled
Even amid the chaos, the government did not entirely abandon its legislative business. Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal introduced a bill to replace the earlier ordinance that had raised the number of Supreme Court judges from 34 to 38, a move expected to speed up the hearing of pending cases at the top court. In contrast, a separate proposed bill seeking to make insulting Vande Mataram a punishable offence could not be introduced in the Rajya Sabha because of the disruptions and was pushed to a later date.
Barricades and tear gas outside Parliament too
The scene outside the Parliament complex was no less tense than the one inside. Thousands of protesters attempted to march toward the building, only to be stopped by police barricades placed along the route. As the standoff grew more tense, security forces resorted to a lathicharge and fired tear gas shells to disperse the crowd. As a precaution, some entry gates to Parliament were also shut completely for a period of time.
