Congress-SP divided into two factions on the FCRA Bill, where is the confusion left and what is the provision?

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju told the opposition MP that you should give a point as to what is against the minority. He said that it is very strange that the opposition is turning itself around by demanding JPC. The government said, 'The Congress has crossed the limit on the FCRA. Where was she asking to send it to JPC and today when it was sent, she is saying take back the bill.'

FCRA law?

• The aim is to ensure that foreign money is not used against India
• Foreign money should not be used against India's security and sovereignty

What provisions in the new bill

• If the registration of an institution or NGO ends, its assets will be owned by the government.
• The control of the government will be temporary. The property will be handed back to the institution as soon as the registration is restored.
• It will be ensured that foreign money is not used for religious conversions and anti-national activities
• State agencies will have to take permission from the central government before investigating cases related to FCRA.
• The amended law reduces the maximum punishment for FCRA violation from 5 years to only 1 year now.
• There shall also be the right to appeal and challenge the charge or action of violation in the district court.

These amendments are being opposed by the opposition. He fears that the government will cancel the registration of Muslim and Christian NGOs by making the FCRA a weapon. They will take possession of the properties of their schools, hospitals and charitable trusts. It will target minorities by implicating them in cases of religious conversion and anti-national protests. In the Lok Sabha, many opposition parties, including the Congress, were of the view that instead of sending the bill to the JPC, the government should withdraw it.

Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi said that our stand is that this bill should be withdrawn. TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee said that whenever there is a crisis, this government tries to make some amendment on how to remove the attention. However, the government is openly challenging that the opposition should show a single word against any religion in this bill. The BJP asked who the Congress wants to save by stopping this bill

FCRA bill

The government said that sending the FCRA bill to the JPC was the demand of the Congress. The record shows that it was the Congress that demanded the FCRA amendment bill to be sent to the JPC. When the bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on March 25, 2026, Congress MP Manish Tiwari raised the demand. "There are serious constitutional problems in the amended bill," Tewari had said in the discussion. On March 31, he again said, 'The bill is flawed, it should be sent to the JPC or select committee.'

The question is, why did the Congress flip in the Lok Sabha today? The Congress seems to be divided into two factions on this issue. In the absence of Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha, KC Venugopal demanded the withdrawal of the bill. While the stand of Congress leader in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge was that the bill should be sent to the JPC.