New Delhi: Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress MP KC Venugopal, Samajwadi Party (SP) MPs Akhilesh Yadav, Dharmendra Yadav and Awadhesh Prasad, TMC MP Saugata Roy, JMM MP Mahua Maji and other opposition leaders stage a protest wearing black clothes to express solidarity with students protesting against the NEET paper leak issue, during the Monsoon session of Parliament, in New Delhi, Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (PTI Photo)THE LOGJAM in Lok Sabha over the NEET UG paper leaks continued for the third consecutive day on Wednesday, with the House being repeatedly adjourned despite the government telling the House that it was ready for a discussion on the issue. The Opposition insisted on Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation over an issue that has sparked protests at Jantar Mantar in Delhi as well as several other cities.At noon, starting the face-off between the Treasury and Opposition Benches before the House was adjourned, Congress MP K C Venugopal said, “The entire nation is in pain now… the way in which the government brutally dealt with students protesting against Dharmendra Pradhan.”Speaker Om Birla intervened and said the Opposition will be given a chance to speak during the discussion.Also Read | Washout in both Houses amid Opposition uproar over paper leaks, police actionUnion Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju then got up and said, “The government is ready to discuss the NEET paper leak issue. If a discussion has to happen, it has to be done under a rule… when the discussion has to happen, its duration and under what rule it has to be done… We are ready for a discussion.”Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav intervened and said, “This issue is not of Congress or SP. It is of the youth. You let them (government) and them (Congress) speak. Has a compromise been reached without letting us speak? Resignation can be taken anytime. But the way you have treated students — hands broken, heads broken. Will you tear the clothes of daughters? Rahul ji and I had to go to the PM’s residence because you didn’t hear us yesterday. If the PM can speak outside, why can’t he speak inside the House.”Speaker Om Birla said all sides want a discussion on the issue and its form could be discussed.Amid sloganeering by the Opposition after adjournments in the first half, the House was adjourned for the day minutes after it assembled at 2 pm. Asad Rehman is with the national bureau of The Indian Express and covers politics and policy focusing on religious minorities in India. A journalist for over eight years, Rehman moved to this role after covering Uttar Pradesh for five years for The Indian Express. During his time in Uttar Pradesh, he covered politics, crime, health, and human rights among other issues. He did extensive ground reports and covered the protests against the new citizenship law during which many were killed in the state. During the Covid pandemic, he did extensive ground reporting on the migration of workers from the metropolitan cities to villages in Uttar Pradesh. He has also covered some landmark litigations, including the Babri Masjid-Ram temple case and the ongoing Gyanvapi-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute. Prior to that, he worked on The Indian Express national desk for three years where he was a copy editor. Rehman studied at La Martiniere, Lucknow and then went on to do a bachelor's degree in History from Ramjas College, Delhi University. He also has a Masters degree from the AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia. ... Read MoreVikas Pathak is deputy associate editor with The Indian Express and writes on national politics. He has over 17 years of experience, and has worked earlier with The Hindustan Times and The Hindu, among other publications. He has covered the national BJP, some key central ministries and Parliament for years, and has covered the 2009 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls and many state assembly polls. He has interviewed many Union ministers and Chief Ministers. Vikas has taught as a full-time faculty member at Asian College of Journalism, Chennai; Symbiosis International University, Pune; Jio Institute, Navi Mumbai; and as a guest professor at Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi. Vikas has authored a book, Contesting Nationalisms: Hinduism, Secularism and Untouchability in Colonial Punjab (Primus, 2018), which has been widely reviewed by top academic journals and leading newspapers. He did his PhD, M Phil and MA from JNU, New Delhi, was Student of the Year (2005-06) at ACJ and gold medalist from University Rajasthan College in Jaipur in graduation. He has been invited to top academic institutions like JNU, St Stephen’s College, Delhi, and IIT Delhi as a guest speaker/panellist. ... Read More Tags:Lok Sabha