New Year, new skirmishes? Govt, opposition likely to spar over Budget, revamped bills in Parliament

New Delhi: The government and the Opposition are unlikely to switch off the confrontation mode in Parliament in 2026 with the former all set to push its legislative agenda while the latter will resist the opponent's narrative building.

With Assembly elections to five states and union territories, all eyes will be on the Budget, which is likely to be presented on a Sunday for the first time on February 1, and the sops the union government would be showering on the states besides giving a peek into its agenda.

The Budget Session will also see the Opposition using the Parliamentary platform to raise its voice against the VB G RAM G Act 2025 and demand for restoring the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

A slew of Bills, including one on 'One Nation, One Election' and for the removal of top political executives who are in jail for more than 30 days, are pending before Parliamentary panels and it is to be seen which of these proposed legislations will come to Parliament.

Opposition points out that the Modi government has a dismal record in sending Bills for Parliamentary scrutiny. A report by the PRS Legislative Research showed that only 11 of the 42 Bills introduced since May 2024 have been sent to a Parliamentary Committee.

Of this, only one went to a Parliamentary Standing Committee while others were sent to a Joint Committees or Select Committees.

While a host of MPs have demanded that Parliament should sit for at least 100 days a year, 2025 saw Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha sitting for 62 days. The productivity for Lok Sabha was 80% while Rajya Sabha clocked 83%.

The Monsoon Session was the least productive -- Lok Sabha 29% and Rajya Sabha 34% -- following intense protests by the Opposition over Special Intensive Revision.

However, the Winter Session saw 103% productivity in Lok Sabha and 104% in Rajya Sabha while Budget Session saw the Lower House and the Upper House clocking a productivity of 111% and 112% respectively.

In 2026, the Opposition believes that the government will continue with its “bulldozer mode” on Bills in similar ways it pushed the passage of the VB G RAM G Bill and the SHANTI Bill on the nuclear sector without sending it for Parliamentary scrutiny.

More confrontation is expected as the Bill on higher education – The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025 – is expected to come to the House after the scrutiny by a Joint Committee.

Reforms related bills like The Securities Markets Code Bill, The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill and The Jan Vishwas (Amendments of Provisions) Bill are also likely to be presented before the Parliament after committees scrutinise them.