Congress MPs Mallikarjun Kharge and Priyanka Gandhi, along with TMC MP Sagarika Ghose and others raise slogans seeking the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan during the Monsoon session of Parliament in New Delhi, Friday. (PTI)AMID CONTINUED demand for the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the first week of the Monsoon Session ended in a washout on Friday, with the exception of the introduction of The Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026, in the Rajya Sabha.The Bill seeks to amend the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, to make insults to National Song Vande Mataram a criminal offence, punishable with imprisonment up to five years.Proceedings in both Houses on Friday began with paying homage to members of the Armed Forces killed during the Kargil War, ahead of the Kargil Vijay Diwas on July 26 (Sunday).Soon after, the Opposition MPs resumed their protest against the NEET paper leak, resulting in both Houses getting adjourned until 12 noon.Also Read | Vande Mataram Bill tabled in Rajya Sabha: How it aims to place the national song on a par with ‘Jana Gana Mana’When the Lok Sabha met again, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said, “If we don’t have a discussion and make excuses, then it is not a good message. I request (Leader of Opposition) Rahul Gandhi ji that he should make the Congress MPs understand. Other party MPs have put their views that there should be a discussion. Why can’t we have a good discussion?”LoP Rahul Gandhi sought to speak after Rijiju’s remarks, but BJP’s Jagdambika Pal, who was presiding over the House, said he would allow him time to speak after papers are laid on the table. The Opposition members started raising “istifa do” slogans, and Pal adjourned the proceedings till Monday.Also read | Centre’s Vande Mataram circular is ‘purely advisory’ with no penal threat: Supreme CourtSpeaking to reporters in the Parliament complex, Gandhi said, “Rijiju ji gave a statement that they want our MPs to hold a discussion. The normal protocol is that if someone names a person, he or she is allowed to respond. When I wanted to reply, the mic was taken away from me. I was not given an opportunity,” he said. Gandhi reiterated the Opposition’s stance that they will not have a discussion or conversation on NEET until Pradhan is sacked.Story continues below this adIn the Rajya Sabha, proceedings were adjourned till 2 pm. When the business resumed, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai proposed to introduce ‘The Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026’.Also Read | Amid Centre push to penalise Vande Mataram ‘insult’, 1,102 arrests, 60 convictions since 2014The Bill seeks to make intentionally preventing the singing of the National Song or causing disturbance to any assembly engaged in such singing an offence with a maximum punishment of five years, or fine, or both. It also seeks to accord the same statutory protection to the National Song as the National Anthem.As the Opposition benches protested the Bill’s introduction, Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha Harivansh allowed CPI(M) MP John Brittas and CPI MP Sandosh Kumar P to speak on the Bill. “The Constituent Assembly, after nearly three years of exhaustive deliberation, consciously refrained from placing the National Song and the National Anthem on the same constitutional footing. Had the framers of both intended to enjoy identical legal consequences, they would have expressed and so provided,” Brittas said.