Modi Govt on Back Foot as Protests Force Minister Out

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government entered the monsoon session of Parliament with momentum, having won the West Bengal assembly election and gained defectors from rival parties. That advantage was expected to help revive a stalled plan to expand Lok Sabha seats through delimitation. Instead, the session ended having delivered the opposite result for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance.

Youth-Led Protests Force a Resignation

Weeks of student demonstrations, triggered by anger over leaked entrance exam papers, spread across Delhi and drew in figures such as activist Sonam Wangchuk, who undertook a lengthy hunger strike. As pressure mounted and police responses drew criticism, the government’s education minister stepped down, marking one of the few ministerial resignations of Modi’s decade-plus tenure. The move followed the government’s decision to restore mobile internet and reopen metro stations that had been shut near protest sites.

Delimitation and Key Bills Stall

Beyond the resignation, the government’s broader legislative agenda faltered. The delimitation bill was not reintroduced despite the BJP’s hopes of building support from new allies. Other contentious legislation, including a foreign contributions amendment bill and a higher-education restructuring bill, also failed to advance, with some referred to committee for further review.

Throughout the session, both the prime minister and the home minister were notably absent from parliamentary proceedings, even as opposition parties pressed for accountability over the handling of the protests. Parliamentary functioning itself was affected, with sittings disrupted by repeated adjournments, according to legislative research trackers monitoring the session.