Rajya Sabha passes MSME Bill amid Opposition din on Chanda Chori

New Delhi: Opposition continued to press for its demand that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah come to the Rajya Sabha and make a statement on the use of pellet guns against the NEET paper leak protesters on July 20 and donation theft in Ayodhya Ram temple, forcing adjournment of the first half of day’s work. The Upper House discussed and passed The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (Amendment) Bill, 2026 amid slogan shouting by Congress and TMC members, among others.

Chairman CP Radhakrishnan tried to conduct Zero Hour soon after the House met for the day. While some NDA members raised matters of public importance, the Opposition demanded that the government make a statement on the theft of donations from the Ayodhya Ram temple. The House was adjourned within minutes.

When the members assembled again at 2 PM, MSME Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi moved the MSME Development (Amendment) Bill, 2026 for consideration and passage. Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge intervened to demand that the Ayodhya temple donation theft issue be taken up. However, Leader of the House JP Nadda suggested that since the discussion on the Bill has begun, it should be completed.


Congress and TMC members shouted slogans on theft donation and demanded that PM and HM come to the House to clear the air. The discussion continued in the din.

Congress member Ajay Maken rose to speak on the Bill but diverted to the protest issue which was disallowed by Deputy Chairman Harivansh who was presiding. Dola Sen (TMC), Neeraj Dangi, Praveen Chakravarty (both Cong) followed the same tactic while Sulata Deo (BJD) said since women are not safe in Odisha due to law and order issues the MSME sector cannot thrive. Ramji Gautam (BSP) demanded reservations in the private sector. He praised the use of ethanol in petrol.

In his reply to the debate, Manjhi enumerated the key points of the amendment Bill, including provisions for women representation. He lamented that the Opposition did not take part in the debate on the Bill. It was passed by a voice vote.