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Govt says ready to discuss student protests, Amit Shah to speak in Parliament: ‘Oppn should not create disturbances’
Sanjeev Kumar | August 10, 2026 6:21 PM CST

The Union government said on Monday that it is ready to discuss the issue of students' protest in Parliament as the Congress-led Opposition persisted with the demand that stalled both Houses.

Live here: Monsoon session of Parliament

Union home minister Amit Shah is expected to reply on the matter of the alleged police excesses against protesters on July 20, when the Cockroach Janta Party gave a 'Sansad Chalo' call for a march to Parliament. As the police action further angered and spurred the protesters at Jantar Mantar, senior BJP leader Dharmendra Pradhan had to resign as education minister as per the CJP's demand over paper leaks such as the NEET-UG medical entrance test.

The Congress and others in the Opposition have run a parallel campaign on these issues, and demanded that Shah, under whose ministry the Delhi Police falls, should be held accountable.

The CJP has also underlined that Shah and PM Narendra Modi have both been coming to the Parliament but not attended the proceedings of the Monsoon Session that began on July 20, the day the youth march ran into police action.

What govt said

On Monday, Union parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju said, "The offer made by the government is very clear, that it is ready to have a full and detailed discussion on students' movement and activities related to it."

He added, signalling that Shah will be speaking: "My only point made to the Opposition is that while the discussion and a reply are being made, the Opposition should not create disturbances to prevent the statement of the Home Minister. They must listen to the reply of the Home Minister and the government. Once discussion begins, we must have a threadbare discussion."

 
 

What Cong, CJP demanded

As Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi led the demand for Shah to speak in Parliament, Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi had explained how the government was responsible for the stalling of proceedings. "The first phase of the disruption in Parliament was entirely because of the government's obstinacy regarding the students' issues, including NEET and the (demand for reignation by education minister Dharmendra) Pradhan. The second phase is because neither the home minister nor the Prime Minister has graced the temple of democracy even once," Singhvi said last week.

CJP spokesperson Saurav Das, in a post on X, had also questioned why Shah had not appeared in Parliament to respond to the Opposition's demands, alleging that central forces were responsible for the crackdown on students.

"This ought to be very clear. The Parliament of India is ours. It is the people's. The people of India, its children, were brutally beaten up, some blinded for life, by the Delhi Police and the RAF which is under the CRPF, a central force," he wrote on X.

"Hence, their boss, Home Minister Amit Shah ought to answer for their crimes. Why is he not appearing before the Parliament for the last two weeks and answering for his force's draconian brutality? After all, accountability ought to be fixed," Das added.


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