Saboteurs and Confrontation seem to be winning yet again.
The FCRA Bill may be referred to parliamentary panel. The NCP(SP)'s eight MPs may meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday but party leader Supriya Sule said her party would opposed the controversial draft law. While PM's meeting with Akali Dal leadership has granted Govt support of one MP.
There is also speculation that the Akali Dal may come back to the NDA fold for ensuing assembly polls in Punjab.
The government clearly remains well short of the 360 votes in Lok Sabha required to pass a constitutional amendment Bill based on the current effective strength of the House.
As a face saving gesture, the Govt's floor managers may now try to postpone the bigger battles over women's reservation and delimitation bills till Winter session in November.
It is being argued that even if the draft laws are passed by then; there would be still be adequate time for implementing these before the 2029 Lok Sabha elections. The Govt had sacrificed Dharmendra Pradhan and were opting for measures to score brownie points vis-a-vis Delimitation and Women's Quota Bill.
The BJP was banking a lot on DMK presuming its anti-Congress stance after May 2026 and government's assurance to increase the number of Lok Sabha by 50 percent across all states would be good enough to win its support. However, DMK has displayed red-flag apparently.
Government floor managers are also trying to gauge the views of other opposition leaders, including Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav. The SP is hardly expected to go soft as UP elections are due next year.
DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin on Friday told a television news channel that his party had neither supported the delimitation bill in the past nor would it support it in the future. The DMK is no longer part of the INDIA bloc.
In the Rajya Sabha, its eight members make it the second-largest Opposition party and with 22 Lok Sabha members, it has emerged as the third-largest Opposition party.
Things might have become difficult for DMK to do any bargaining with the centre because Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay convened a meeting of state's MPs on Saturday and adopted a resolution against delimitation.
The meeting was boycotted by the DMK, and the AIADMK but Vijay's camp (also includes Congress) has demanded that the number of Lok Sabha seats remain frozen at 543.
The Monsoon session appears headed for a near-complete washout.
The session, which began on July 20, has been marked by repeated adjournments and little substantive business.
The only exception has been the debate on the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026, which was passed by both Houses after detailed debate.
The Congress leaders have recalled how 146 MPs were suspended during the 2023 Winter Session of Parliament and several significant Bills were passed.
They are determined now not to allow the BJP repeat the story of 2023.
"If the central government thinks they can cook up and introduce the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill within these two or three days, they should keep that wish to themselves," AICC general secretary KC Venugopal said on Sunday.
"Even if Amit Shah comes to pass this anti-people bill, there is no doubt that he will have to face strong protests in Parliament. We will not allow such an anti-people and unconstitutional bill to be passed," he told reporters in Kerala.
The Monsoon session washout after mishandling of the CJP stir and giving in to the demand of Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation would now certain mean "loss of face" for the Modi-Shah duo.
And their detractors having tasted blood will now make things more difficult in day to day activities and Govt functioning.
The Constitution amendment bill fell short of the constitutionally mandated two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha in April with 298 members voting in favour and 230 against.
The NDA's strength in the Lok Sabha now stands at 299 following the merger of seven Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs with the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. The BJP also did some business with TMC rebels and they are now 20 in numbers and call themselves NCPI.
However, it is learnt three Muslim lawmakers are still non-committal about their allegiance towards the BJP-led NDA.
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