Parliament's monsoon session opened Monday amid opposition demands for a special discussion on food inflation, with the Congress-led INDIA bloc threatening to obstruct proceedings unless the government agrees to constitute a joint parliamentary committee to investigate price rise across essential commodities.

The session, scheduled to run through August 22, has a heavy legislative agenda: the government has listed seventeen bills for consideration, including a revised Broadcasting Services Regulation Bill, amendments to the Waqf Act, and a new Competition Commission framework.

Opposition leaders held a coordination meeting Sunday evening where they agreed to pursue a unified strategy of adjournment motions targeting the Speaker if the government does not agree to a four-day special debate on inflation. "The common man is being crushed between rising prices and falling wages. Parliament must speak to this," said the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.

A senior minister dismissed the opposition's demands as "political theatre," pointing to Reserve Bank of India data showing headline retail inflation at 4.8 per cent in June — within the RBI's target band for the first time in eight months.

The session's first day saw multiple adjournments of both houses as opposition members rushed to the well of the House displaying placards and banners referencing vegetable prices. The Rajya Sabha was adjourned thrice before lunch.