Congress MP KC Venugopal on Sunday said his party remained opposed to the proposed Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, calling it “unconstitutional”, while the BJP accused the Congress of opposing the legislation with an alleged intention to facilitate religious conversions and alter the country’s demography.
The proposed Bill is yet to be introduced in Parliament.
Speaking to reporters, Venugopal alleged that the proposed legislation was aimed at minorities and said the Congress would oppose its passage.
The Congress leader said, “It (the FCRA Bill) is targeting minorities, because the Union government’s motive is very clear. We are not going to allow this type of ‘anti-constitutional’ bill to be passed. This is what our stance is.”
Reacting to the Congress’ position, BJP spokesperson RP Singh questioned the party’s reasons for opposing the proposed legislation.
“Why is Congress opposing the FCRA Bill?” Singh asked, alleging that the opposition was linked to a desire to facilitate religious conversions and “change the country’s demography”.
Singh said the Opposition had the right to protest but urged it to allow parliamentary debate on legislation that the government considers to be in the national interest.
“We expect the Opposition to understand that your protests have their place. However, in the interest of the country, the Bills should be passed,” he said, referring to the proposed legislation on judges, the FCRA Bill, and Bills concerning delimitation and women’s reservation.
The debate over the proposed FCRA amendments has also drawn international attention.
On Friday, India rejected comments from sections of the international community, including a US lawmaker, regarding the proposed FCRA Bill, maintaining that legislative matters concerning India are internal affairs to be decided by Parliament.
During a regular media briefing in New Delhi, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said several countries, including the United States, regulate the flow of foreign funds.
“Legislative matters concerning India are our internal affairs on which decisions are taken by the Parliament of our country,” Jaiswal said, adding that several nations also have regulations governing foreign funding.
The proposed FCRA amendments are expected to remain a major point of political debate as the government moves towards introducing the legislation in Parliament.