With the Opposition intensifying its protests against alleged police excesses against student protesters and the alleged theft of donations at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, the government appears to be slowing down on its legislative agenda for the moment. The government, insiders said, is waiting for the Opposition to get back to allowing Parliament to function before taking up crucial pieces of legislation next week.The Centre on Thursday managed to get the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026 — also known as the Vande Mataram Bill — passed amid the din in the Lok Sabha. The Bill saw a brief discussion involving only two members: Union Minister of State for Home Nityananda Rai and DMK MP Kanimozhi. While Rai defended the legislation saying all six stanzas of the song were needed to ensure “Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat (One India, Best India)”, Kanimozhi termed it “a Hindutva agenda masquerading as nationalism”.Advertisement“It is against federalism. You cannot impose nationalism by bringing a law, the song goes against the secularism of the country. The founding fathers had the wisdom to stop only with two stanzas, but today you are trying to polarise the country by making it compulsory and making it a criminal offence if we do not sing all the six stanzas,” she said.Read | House clears anti-paper leak Bill, PM Narendra Modi says nobody will be sparedThe government deferred the consideration and passage of the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill. According to sources, the Bill, which was deferred on the request of the Opposition, is now likely to be taken up in the Lower House on Monday. It proposes to increase the Supreme Court’s sanctioned strength from 33 to 37 judges.“Many Opposition parties did not want a detailed discussion on the Vande Mataram Bill as the optics of vehemently opposing it could have been politically damaging, while backing it would have hurt their support base,” a BJP leader said.AdvertisementThe Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, which was passed by the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, makes the intentional disruption of the national song a criminal offence, punishable with up to three years’ imprisonment. The Bill has placed several parties, including the Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP), in a difficult position, with Muslim organisations strongly opposing it.Other Bills in the pipelineBJP sources said the Treasury benches are expected to introduce the MSME Development Act, 2006 (Amendment) Bill and the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill next week. “We do not want to rush these Bills. We want the Opposition to discuss crucial pieces of legislation such as the FCRA Bill. That is why the government is taking its time before bringing it up,” a BJP leader said.The FCRA Bill seeks to amend the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010, which regulates the acceptance and utilisation of foreign contributions and foreign hospitality to “ensure that such inflows do not adversely affect national interest, public order or national security”. The Opposition and minority groups have alleged that the proposed amendments would adversely affect institutions run by minority communities, including Christians.The proposed amendments to the MSME Development Act seek to introduce mandatory digital invoicing, strengthen safeguards against delayed payments and ensure faster settlement of disputes. The changes are aimed at improving liquidity and reducing the long payment delays that often leave small businesses short of working capital despite having completed their supplies or services.you may likeGovernment sources also indicated that repeated adjournments and the loss of working hours could delay the government’s plans to take up the 131st Constitution Amendment Bill, which seeks to increase the number of seats in the Lok Sabha. The Bill is linked to the implementation of the Women’s Reservation law and the Delimitation Bill during the ongoing Monsoon Session, which is scheduled to conclude on August 13.Two other key legislations — the 130th Constitution Amendment Bill, which proposes the automatic removal of ministers if they are arrested or detained for more than 30 days for serious offences, and the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan (VBSA) Bill, 2025, that seeks to restructure higher education regulation in the country — have also been delayed, as the joint parliamentary committees examining them have been unable to finalise their reports due to differences among political parties.Senior BJP leader and Lok Sabha Chief Whip Sanjay Jaiswal said the government would be compelled to pass the Bills amid the pandemonium if the Opposition continued its protests. “We want discussions in Parliament on these Bills. If the Opposition does not allow that, what can we do? We will be forced to push the Bills through without discussion,” he said.