new delhi, Jul 20
The Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha both were adjourned for the day to meet on Tuesday as Opposition members protested over the alleged NEET paper leak and Ram temple donation theft issues.
“The House stands adjourned to meet at 11 am on Tuesday, 21st July, 2026,” Deputy Chairman Harivansh said after his repeated request to respect the norms of the House went in vain.
On the opening day of the Monsoon session of Parliament, the Upper House witnessed six adjournments during the morning proceedings.
The House was first adjourned soon after the laying of papers, followed by oath-taking by newly-elected members and obituary references. After the papers were tabled, 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. The proceedings were adjourned for the second time till 12.30 pm. The House was adjourned further till 12.50 pm and then again till 2 pm. When the House met at 12.50 pm, 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.
As sloganeering continued, Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan adjourned the House till 2 pm. As the House reassembled, the Deputy Chairman informed the members about the decision of the Business Advisory Committee, which, in its meeting held on Monday, allotted time for the government legislative businesses.
As the Opposition members continued to raise slogans, Harivansh urged them to maintain decorum.
“The House is for dialogue and discussion. Please, let us debate,” he said, adding that since morning, no work has happened in the House. “Please maintain the decorum of the House,” he urged. When the members refused to relent, he adjourned the House for half an hour till 2.30 pm.
When the House met at 2:30 pm, the Deputy Speaker tried to pacify the Opposition members and urged them to go back to their seats and allow the House to run.
As the Opposition ignored his appeal, Harivansh adjourned the House for the day.
The Lower House proceedings were, too, 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.
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. Saikia, who was in the chair, asked the opposition members to go back to their seats and participate in the proceedings. “The House is ready for discussions on various issues. But you are not interested. You don’t want to discuss people’s issues. This is not the way. “You are disrupting the House repeatedly. You are showing banners and posters which is not acceptable,” he said.
