The Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026, and the National Co-operative Development Corporation (Amendment) BIll, 2026, were passed in the Lok Sabha without debate on Tuesday, amid heavy protest and sloganeering by the Opposition members of the House, who demanded an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a statement from Union home minister Amit Shah over the police excesses on student protesters at new Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on July 20.HT ImageParliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju said he was disappointed that senior Kerala leaders from the Congress chose not to speak on the bill, that was supposed to change the name of the state from Kerala to Keralam. “It is sad that even senior Congress leaders like KC Venugopal aren’t going to speak on the bill,” Rijiju said.later, the Lower House passed the NCDC (Amendment) Bill, moved by minister of state for cooperation Murlidhar Mohol on behalf of Amit Shah, who holds the home and cooperation portfolio, The bill seeks to widen the channels through which the NCDC can fun cooperative societies. Krishna Prasad Tenneti, in the Chair at the time, urged Opposition members to let the House run smoothly, but the protests continued and the bill went through by voice vote amid the din.The renaming push traces back to a resolution passed unanimously by the Kerala assembly in June 2024, which the Union Cabinet cleared in February this year under the process laid down in Article 3 of the Constitution.Union minister of state for home affairs Nityanand Rai, who introduced and steered the bill through the House, joined Rijiju in criticising the Congress for turning what the government called a moment of rare cross-party consensus into a platform for protest.The Kerala assembly’s 2024 resolution, which forms the basis of the bill, had noted that “since the time of the country’s independence struggle, there has been a strong demand for the formation of United Kerala for the people speaking the Malayalam language,” and that the state legislature had “unanimously appealed to the Central government to take urgent steps as per Article 3 of the Constitution for modifying the name as Keralam.”Opposition MPs continued their protest through the day, trooping into the well with placards and raising slogans against the government.Congress MP Pawan Khera, asked about the continuing protest, said the party’s position had not changed. “Our demand remains the same that the home minister should come and make a statement on the theft of donations and the atrocities committed against students. PM Modi should apologise,” Khera said.The demand for Shah’s presence has run through the Monsoon session. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had earlier accused the government of staying silent on both issues for over a fortnight, saying “the PM and home minister have not spoken on these issues in the last 15 days.”Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Shashank Mani Tripathi, responding to the repeated adjournments, said the loss of legislative time this session had been unusually steep. “There has not been a bigger tragedy than this Monsoon session getting washed out. At least let the Zero Hour and Question Hour function,” Tripathi said.Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla intervened during the day’s proceedings to flag the pattern of disruptions. “Disruptions in the House are against the spirit of democracy,” Birla said, adding, “We must have debates and discussions in the House,” as he appealed to both the treasury and Opposition benches to maintain decorum. Birla said the government had assured him the home minister was ready to take up a discussion on the students’ protest issue, though the offer did not immediately end the sloganeering.With the Monsoon session, which began on July 21, now in its final phase, the Opposition has shown no sign of relenting on its twin demands, and the government has yet to offer a firm date for the home minister’s statement in the House. Scheduled business, including Question Hour on several days, has repeatedly given way to protest, and the sloganeering over the students’ issue and the verdict issue continue through whatever sittings remain of the session.