Both Houses of Parliament were adjourned on Wednesday after repeated disruptions by the Opposition over the NEET paper leak and the police action against protesters during Monday's 'Sansad Chalo' march, even as the Centre reiterated its willingness to hold a detailed debate on the issue.
The third day of Parliament's Monsoon Session witnessed another stormy start on Wednesday, with the Opposition intensifying its protests over the police action against Rahul Gandhi and other INDIA bloc leaders who were detained after staging a sit-in outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence demanding his resignation.
Wearing black, leaders of several Opposition parties staged a protest outside Parliament in solidarity with students protesting the alleged NEET paper leak and against the police action on MPs who had held the sit-in over the controversy.
The protests came a day after Parliament remained paralysed for the second consecutive day, with relentless Opposition demonstrations over the alleged NEET paper leak and the police action against protesting students forcing repeated adjournments in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
Congress MP KC Venugopal on Wednesday moved an adjournment motion in Lok Sabha demanding that the Union Education Minister be called upon to make a suo motu statement explaining the paper leak incidents in his tenure.
Congress General Secretary demanded that Dharmendra Pradhan must take moral and constitutional responsibility and tender his resignation.
"The Government must discuss the NEET and CBSE Issue, examination-related suicides and the crisis in the education sector. Withdrawal of all cases against the students and youth who were peacefully protesting yesterday," he wrote.
Ahead of the Parliament session, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Pawan Khera listed four demands of the party, including the resignations of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Home Minister Amit Shah.
Khera also demanded that all cases filed against the protesting students be withdrawn immediately.
Our demands are clear:
— Pawan Khera 🇮🇳 ಪವನ್ ಖೇರಾ (@Pawankhera) July 21, 2026
1. Dharmendra Pradhan and Amit Shah must resign and be held accountable.
2. Every individual responsible for humiliating and brutalising students yesterday — whether a state or non-state actor — must be identified, investigated, and subjected to the… https://t.co/YN8QmjsjGB
Congress MPs arrived in Parliament wearing black clothes, as the Opposition plans to observe a 'black day' to protest against the police action on leaders and students. MPs from the Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the TMC were seen in the protests.
The "Black Day" demonstration serves as a unified front against the government's handling of recent student agitations and the prevailing unrest over the national education system.
Speaking on the protest, Congress MP K Suresh stated that the decision to wear black attire was a direct response to the "brutal" police action taken against the Leader of Opposition (LoP) and other Members of Parliament during Tuesday's demonstrations. He emphasised that the protest at Makar Dwar was a mark of dissent against the high-handedness of the security forces.
#WATCH | Delhi: Wearing black clothes, Opposition MPs protest on the Parliament premises.
— ANI (@ANI) July 22, 2026
Earlier this morning, Congress MP Pawan Khera told ANI that all Opposition MPs are wearing black today as a mark of "protest against what they have done to the students of this country in… pic.twitter.com/TeSJhhoBjs
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla adjourned the session, minutes after the House convened for the day.
The Speaker said the House is ready to discuss any issue raised by the Opposition, but only after the Question Hour. However, as the Opposition continued their protest, Birla adjourned the session till 12.00 pm.
During the initial proceedings in the Upper House, Opposition MPs attempted to press for a discussion on their demands, but the Chairman asked them to wait for their turn.
After taking up papers to be laid on the table, Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge raised the issue of the police crackdown and baton charge on students, prompting the Chairman to adjourn the House till 12 pm.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) Rajya Sabha MP Nadimul Haque on Wednesday moved a Rule 267 notice seeking suspension of the day's business in the Rajya Sabha to discuss the alleged police action against student protesters during the July 20 demonstration in the national capital, sources said.
According to sources, Haque sought an urgent discussion on the "Delhi Police atrocities against peacefully protesting students on July 20", contending that the matter was of urgent public importance and warranted suspension of the listed business of the House.
Congress MPs Renuka Chowdhury and Syed Naseer Hussain on Wednesday gave an adjournment notice in the Rajya Sabha to discuss police "atrocities" against protesting students and the "crisis" in India's examination system, citing issues like the NEET paper leak and alleged irregularities in the on-screen marking system in CBSE exams.
They submitted the notice under Rule 267 seeking suspension of the day's business for a discussion on the issues.
AAP MP Sanjay Singh also moved a notice under Rule 267 in the Rajya Sabha seeking a discussion on alleged police atrocities on students during their protest march to Parliament on Monday, exam reforms and the health of fasting activist Sonam Wangchuk.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday said the government was willing to discuss the NEET paper leak issue in Parliament. Speaking in the Lok Sabha, he said the timing and duration of the discussion would be finalised after consultations with all parties.
His remarks came after the Opposition rejected a discussion under Rule 193, which allows for a short-duration debate without voting. The Opposition had instead demanded that the NEET controversy and the police action on protesters be discussed through an Adjournment Motion, which requires the House to suspend all other business to take up the issue.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday as government agreed for a discussion on NEET paper leak in the Lok Sabha.
According to officials, Pradhan met Birla in Parliament soon after government told the Lok Sabha that it is willing to hold a detailed discussion on the NEET paper leak issue.
The government had urged Speaker Birla to convene a meeting of all parties to decide on the rule, date and duration of the debate.
TMC leader Kalyan Banerjee had a heated exchange with some of his former party colleagues and NCPI MPs in the Lok Sabha chamber on Wednesday after the House was adjourned following an uproar by the opposition.
The Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) members involved in the exchange included Mitali Bagh, Shatabdi Roy and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar.
Kalyan Banerjee has remained loyal to TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee.
It was not clear what led to the heated exchange. Some members of opposition parties intervened and tried to calm down both sides.
On being asked what had happened by some of the opposition MPs, Kalyan Banerjee left the House.
Bagh, Dastidar and some other NCPI members subsequently went to meet Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in his chamber apparently to raise the issue.
Sources said Birla asked the NCPI to submit a written complaint.
As many as 20 TMC MPs revolted against the party leadership after the party's defeat in the West Bengal assembly elections and joined the NCPI. They started sitting separately, away from the TMC MPs in the Lok Sabha.
The NCPI MPs also expressed their allegiance to the ruling NDA and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed a resolution suspending Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee for the remainder of the Monsoon session over his alleged use of unparliamentary language against a woman MP.
Banerjee's remarks against woman MP have hurt dignity of House, says Krishna Prasad Tenneti, presiding the Lok Sabha.
Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday demanded the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and sought a discussion on the NEET paper leak under Rule 267 in the Rajya Sabha.
Deputy Chairman Harivansh said Rule 267 had been invoked only on the "rarest of rare occasions" over the past four decades, indicating that the notices would not be admitted.
The government on Wednesday reiterated in the Rajya Sabha that it was ready to discuss the NEET paper leak, while accusing the Opposition of disrupting Parliament.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government was prepared to debate "all important issues", including the NEET paper leak, but the Chair would decide the rule under which the discussion would take place.
Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge insisted the debate should be held under Rule 267 and said it could only proceed after Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned.
Deputy Chairman Harivansh said Rule 267 had been invoked only on the "rarest of rare occasions" over the past four decades. Amid continued protests by Opposition MPs, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 3 pm.
Lok Sabha adjourned for the day as opposition continues with protests over NEET paper leak and other issues.
