Congress and allied parties have handed Speaker Om Birla an ultimatum, paralyzing Parliament as nationwide student protests over the NEET paper leaks face violent police crackdowns.

NEW DELHI, July 23 — Congress MP KC Venugopal just drew a hard line, declaring the Opposition won’t debate a single bill in Parliament until Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigns. They’ve formally handed this ultimatum to Speaker Om Birla, cementing a complete legislative blockade. And while the Aam Aadmi Party and DMK aren’t joining the boycott, the rest of the political bloc has locked arms to force the minister out.

The standoff hits right as the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and students nationwide drive massive protests over the NEET medical exam paper leaks. Millions of candidates can’t move forward with their careers, and the anger has visibly spilled onto the streets of the capital. But the ruling government doesn’t want to yield, insisting they’re ready to talk rather than fire their education chief. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju told the press the administration wants a debate on the exam crisis immediately, begging the Opposition with folded hands to allow proceedings without conditions.

Will the ruling coalition actually sacrifice a cabinet minister to break the gridlock? BJP national president Nitin Nabin isn’t entertaining the thought. He threw an open challenge back at the Opposition, accusing them of fleeing the House to hide their own double standards. Nabin stated the NDA is fully prepared to answer every question on the floor, adding that Rahul Gandhi’s history is just a track record of dodging tough conversations.

The political theatre hasn’t stopped the physical confrontations outside government buildings. On Monday, Delhi Police deployed tear gas and lathis to break up thousands of young protesters marching toward Parliament. Those students didn’t back down, demanding Pradhan’s immediate exit. Following that crackdown, Rahul Gandhi staged a three-hour sit-in outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence alongside leaders from the Samajwadi Party and NCP. Delhi Police forcibly removed and detained Gandhi, his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Akhilesh Yadav before releasing them late in the evening. They’ve made it clear the street-level pressure campaign will continue.

Inside the chambers, the procedural warfare hasn’t stopped. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav intervened fiercely before the House was adjourned yesterday, reminding the ruling party that they can’t simply ignore the youth. He challenged the government over the police brutality, asking why they’re breaking the hands and heads of protesting daughters. Yadav pointed out that he and Gandhi only marched to the Prime Minister’s residence because the government wouldn’t listen inside Parliament. He directly questioned why the Prime Minister speaks outside the House but won’t address the nation’s representatives inside it.

Government voices haven’t backed down, calling the resignation demands purely political. Union Minister Jitendra Singh claimed the Congress initially just wanted a discussion, but then Gandhi shifted the goalposts to demand Pradhan’s head. Pradhan himself took to X late Tuesday night, arguing the Opposition doesn’t care about students and is simply manufacturing disruption for headlines. He insisted the government has already fixed the lapses behind the NEET leak and won’t succumb to pressure.

Protesters on the ground aren’t buying the government’s reassurances. At the CJP rally in Jantar Mantar, speakers argued that while Pradhan bears moral responsibility, a single resignation won’t cure India’s broken education system. They’re demanding concrete action against the coaching mafia and a massive overhaul of primary education. Financial realities back up their anger. The Union government’s budget allocation for education has shrunk as a percentage of total expenditure over the last 12 years, and students feel they’ve been systematically left behind.

Lawmakers haven’t passed a single piece of meaningful legislation in the first three days of the Monsoon session. The Lok Sabha was set to take up the Supreme Court Amendment Bill today, but the chaos derailed the schedule. Deputy Leader of the Opposition Gaurav Gogoi and other committee members also couldn’t present crucial defence reports concerning the DHANUSH artillery system due to the shouting matches. Both Houses face continuous adjournments, with the Rajya Sabha suspended until 3 p.m. today.

The stalemate means Parliament won’t function while millions of students wait for answers.

The crisis won’t fix itself.