In the Lok Sabha, soon after Speaker Meira Kumar read out the obituary references, Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj demanded suspension of Question Hour and immediate discussion on price rise under Rule 184 that includes voting.

Swaraj said the Opposition members were ‘saddened’ by the Speaker’s decision yesterday to disallow Adjournment Motion moved by them.

‘Since you had said that the issue of price rise can be discussed under any other rule, we want the Question Hour to be set aside and discussion on the matter taken up immediately,’ she said.

NDA convenor and JD(U) president Sharad Yadav said the opposition is faced with a dilemma on how to confront the Speaker.

‘After lot of thought we have decide to give a notice for discussion under Rule 184,’ Yadav said. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said the government had never shied away from discussion on any issue and pointed out that the opposition members have made their point during the 90-minute discussion yesterday.

As the Opposition insisted on discussion under Rule 184, Bansal said that since Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandopadhyay had given a notice under Rule 193 (which does not entail voting) on July 27 it should get precedence.

Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav said the opposition members were not in favour of disruption of proceedings of the House.

‘But, never before has the entire opposition joined hands to demand discussion on an issue. Since the entire opposition is speaking in one voice, discussion under Rule 184 should be allowed,’ he said, adding that the Speaker should protect the Opposition.

Citing rules, the Speaker said she would examine the notices given by the opposition and refer the matter to the Business Advisory Committee.

At this stage the entire Opposition trooped into the Well and the Speaker adjourned the House till noon. Meanwhile, Left and BJD MPs today staged a protest at the main gate of Parliament and demanded immediate rollback in the increase in prices of petroleum products.

Carrying placards, they raised slogans in support of their demand.CPI(M) MPs Basudeb Acharia, Sitaram Yechury, Brinda Karat and CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta were present along with B Mahtab and Arjun Charan Sethi (both BJD), among others.

Leaders of the Left parties had said that they would hold the protest inside the Parliament precincts but not inside the House as ‘we do not want to hold up the proceedings’.

Rajya Sabha ruckus

The trouble erupted as soon as the Rajya Sabha assembled at 11 am, with M Venkaiah Naidu, S S Ahluwalia and other Bharatiya Janata Party members on their feet, demanding a discussion on the price rise.

Failing to restore order, Chairman Hamid Ansari adjourned the house. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was present in the house during the din.

Look on Lok Sabha

As the House assembled, angry opposition members led by Sushma Swaraj of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Mulayam Singh of the Samajwadi Party were on their feet, demanding a discussion on the price rise issue under a rule that entails voting.

As the Speaker called the first question about 15 minutes into the sitting, opposition members stormed the Speaker’s podium, forcing her to adjourn the house.