6 min readNew DelhiJul 19, 2026 02:05 PM IST
First published on: Jul 19, 2026 at 02:05 PM IST
The Monsoon Session of Parliament is set to commence on Monday on a stormy note as the Opposition attempts to corner the government over issues such as exam paper leaks, the protest by activist Sonam Wangchuk, the alleged theft of donations in the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, ethanol blending in fuel, and foreign policy.
The session comes at a time when the contours of the Opposition itself have changed since the two Houses of Parliament last convened in April, with at least 37 MPs from four Opposition parties shifting their allegiance to the BJP-led NDA. This is likely to help the government shore up the numbers as it looks to reintroduce a legislative package on advancing the implementation of the Women’s Reservation Act and increase the strength of Parliament and state legislatures. Its efforts had failed the Lok Sabha test in April. The subsequent splits in Opposition parties have bolstered the ruling alliance’s numbers but added to the sense of acrimony and rancour in the Opposition ranks. Sources in the government, however, said it would have to adopt a wait-and-watch approach before introducing the Bill, given the swiftly changing permutations and combinations in Parliament.
On Sunday, the Opposition walked out of an all-party meeting as the government had invited the rebel faction of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) that has merged with a little-known outfit called the Nationalist Citizens Party of India. The DMK and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which have not been attending INDIA bloc meetings, were among the parties that staged a walkout.
The move to break up Wangchuk’s hunger strike at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar and the proposed march to Parliament on Monday called by the Cockroach Janta Party have also added an edge to House proceedings before they begin.
The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, has criticised the move, days after Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi urged party leaders to speak up for the activist who has been on hunger strike to call for Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation. NCP (SP) leader Sharad Pawar has also labelled the government’s move “irresponsible” at a time when there is a buzz about his party’s merger with the NCP, which is in the NDA.
By attempting to corner the government over the issue of paper leaks, the Opposition will hope to tap into discontent among the urban “upper caste” and middle-class Hindus, who have been core BJP voters for decades.
Why government is cautious
The Treasury ranks have swelled even as the Opposition has appeared fragmented in recent days over the Delimitation Bill. While in April it had come together saying that the government’s aim was to change the electoral map of the country through delimitation — the Bills circulated did not mention a 50% increase in seats for all states despite verbal assurances from the Treasury benches — it showed signs of disintegrating in the last few days. The government hopes that some of these parties will come around if the Bill incorporates the 50% pro-rata model.
On July 15, NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule said her party would support the Bill if it expressly mentioned the 50% increase in seats for all states. The DMK, which stridently opposed delimitation last time, has become far more circumspect since losing power in Tamil Nadu and is keeping its cards close to its chest. Following DMK leader M K Stalin’s address to party MPs on July 16, the party’s organising secretary R S Bharathi said if the Centre incorporates their recommendations, “there is no need for the DMK to oppose it”.
However, the government has appeared cautious in recent days. “We will have to see how things appear in Parliament and then introduce the Bills,” said a BJP insider.
First, on July 17, the government decided to shelve, for now, the Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill that seeks to remove from office the ministers arrested for serious offences for 30 consecutive days. Then, a meeting of the Joint Committee of Parliament on the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill 2025, scheduled for Monday, was cancelled. The Bill seeks to create a single body to regulate higher education, but has drawn opposition from within even the NDA over excessive centralisation.
Ram Temple issue
The Opposition is also planning to raise the alleged theft at the Ram Temple, hoping that it will have an impact on the BJP’s sizable Hindutva constituency.
On Saturday, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, the LoP in the Rajya Sabha, wrote a joint letter to the PM on the Ram Temple controversy, reminding him that he had announced the formation of the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust in Parliament and that its members were known to be associated with the RSS and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.
“Your silence now in the face of such a crime is unacceptable,” the letter said. The two LoPs demanded an independent investigation into the Trust’s financial affairs and that the findings be made public.
While the Opposition will look to put the government on the back foot despite its diminishing numbers, the government will bank on the fragmentation in the Opposition ranks, setting up what promises to be a tumultuous Monsoon Session.
