Parliament witnessed a stormy session on Wednesday. Before b3ing adjourned for the day both the houses passed two important bills. The Lok Sabha passed the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill 2026 by voice vote, while Rajya Sabha cleared the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Amendment Bill 2026, which is widely known as the Vande Mataram Bill.
Speaking in regards to the examination bill passed, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said the government had acted swiftly on the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak, pointing out that 52 FIRs had been filed since the original paper leak law took effect in 2024.
In the same session, Singh turned his attention to Rahul Gandhi, rejecting the Congress leader’s charge that Home Minister Amit Shah had ordered the police to fire on the protesting students. “Leader of Opposition has no idea of how administration works. Orders to open fire in any situation can only be given by a magistrate and not by any minister,” Singh said.In same jab, he clarified that no shots were fired on the protesters. “It was repeatedly clarified that no shots were fired; tear gas was used. Since no shots were fired, the question of issuing an order does not arise. The authority to issue such an order rests with the magistrate, not the minister,” he stated.
The upper house witnessed its own share of drama.The Vande Mataram Bill passed only after Opposition members raised a din and walked out, with Congress’s Pramod Tiwari and CPI(M)’s John Brittas demanding Amit Shah’s presence in the House — a demand Deputy Chairman Harvansh Narayan Singh turned down, saying the House “was not in order.
“Replying for the government, MoS Home Nityanand Rai traced Vande Mataram’s history, from its 1875 composition by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee to Dr Rajendra Prasad granting it equal status with the National Anthem in 1950.
Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi attacked the RSS, during the discussion on the new law to curb paper leaks. The use of unparliamentary language sparked fire demanding him to apologise for such language.