4 min readNew DelhiAug 14, 2026 07:33 AM IST
First published on: Aug 14, 2026 at 07:19 AM IST
As the Monsoon Session of Parliament concluded on Thursday, Opposition parties appeared convinced that they had pushed the BJP on the defensive. The reason: they had, at least for the time being, derailed the Centre’s big-ticket legislative agenda, including delimitation, women’s reservation, and amendments to the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act or FCRA, while maintaining “sustained pressure” on the government over student protests.
INDIA bloc leaders, cutting across party lines, admitted that the narrative in the run-up to the session was not in their favour following Assembly election losses in West Bengal, Assam, and Tamil Nadu, as well as the splits and defections that followed. The prevailing sense was that the Opposition was demoralised and that the narrative was “firmly with the government”.
There was speculation that the government was aggressively trying to cobble together the numbers needed to bring back the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill to implement the women’s reservation law and to push through the Delimitation Bill.
With the DMK no longer willing to walk with the INDIA bloc, the TMC fractured, and the Nationalist Congress Party (SP) sending ambiguous signals, speculation was rife that more desertions could further cripple the Opposition.
As the Monsoon Session ended without transacting much business, the government did manage to get 12 Bills passed, although only one was passed after a proper discussion in the Lok Sabha. Yet, the Opposition, barring a handful of leaders, does not appear to be ruing the fact that it could not use Parliament as a platform to corner the government and articulate its issues and views clearly.
On the contrary, the Opposition believes it managed to shift the narrative, at least for the time being, while ensuring that its internal fissures did not come to the fore. It also believes that the absence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah — who have often led attacks against the Opposition — from Parliament gave it an “unexpected advantage”.
“It was a rare slip by the BJP … the powerful Shah avoiding Parliament. This helped us spin a narrative that they (the government) are scared,” an Opposition leader said.
Another leader elaborated, using a cricketing analogy: “The opening batsmen did not come out to bat. They were sitting in the pavilion. They were scared to bat on a turning pitch.” The government has accused the Opposition of “running away from discussions and debates.”
What will Congress do next?
While the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) — which spearheaded the Gen Z protests and succeeded in forcing the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan as Union Education Minister — concentrates on its future steps and establishing itself, the Opposition, especially the Congress, remained firm in attacking the government and Shah over the July 20 police crackdown on protesters during a march to Parliament.
The Congress also believes that the issue of unemployment and the lack of job creation could prove to be the BJP government’s Achilles heel.
While the protests were triggered by exam paper leaks, the principal Opposition party’s assessment is that they reflect the wider angst among the youth. This, coupled with the Ram Temple donation row or “chanda chori”, which the Samajwadi Party (SP) believes has resonance among people, is likely to be front and centre of the Opposition’s narrative and campaign plans in the coming days.
Even as the Opposition’s moral high ground over the Jantar Mantar police action was slightly dented by the police action against protesters in Ranchi by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-Congress government, the Congress believes Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi sent out a clear message that the police action was wrong and that he stood by the protesters.
The Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party’s highest decision-making body, is set to meet next week to chalk out an action plan to take forward its campaign on the two issues.
“Harping on the July 20 police crackdown and the absence of Shah from Parliament will have a limited shelf life. We will have to be imaginative to bring to the fore what we believe is the angst among the youth over jobs. The challenge is how we will be able to do it,” said a Congress leader.
Opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, K C Venugopal, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Akhilesh Yadav, and Mahua Moitra, stage a protest during the Monsoon Session of Parliament in New Delhi. (Photo: PTI/File) 
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