Uproar continued to prevail in the pre-lunch session of the Rajya Sabha making it difficult for the House to take up a discussion on communal situation in the country amidst arguments and counter arguments.

This is for the fourth day today, the standoff on demand for Prime Minister’s presence and his reply to the discussion led to washout of the proceedings. Prime Minister was present in the House during the question hour when the matter cropped up again at noon. When the House re-assembled after two adjournments at 1215 hours, Leader of the House Arun Jaitley said the government is ready for a discussion and it should begin right now.

However, he said the government will not accept the way the opposition wants to decide the course of discussion. Mr Jaitley also reminded the opposition that it failed to accept the statement of the Prime Minister on Union Minister Niranjan Jyoti’s remarks and continued to disrupt House proceedings even thereafter. This led to arguments between the treasury and opposition benches. Chairman Mohammed Hamid Ansari said there is a broad consensus for taking up the discussion and asked Anand Sharma of the Congress to initiate.

He also asked the opposition not to put conditionalities for the discussion. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu repeatedly said that the discussion should begin and Home Minister will reply to the discussion. This was strongly opposed by members belonging to Congress, Left parties, Trinamool Congress, JD(U) and BSP. Mayawati of the BSP urged the Prime Minister not make it a prestige issue and respond in the national interest. The House witnessed heated exchanges between the treasury and opposition benches accusing each other, forcing the adjournment of the House till 2 PM.

Earlier, the House was adjourned for a brief spell as noisy scenes continued. Anand Sharma of the Congress said the government is arrogant in rejecting the demand of entire opposition on Prime Minister’s presence and reply. Responding to this, Leader of the House Arun Jaitely said it is not the government’s arrogance but it is the arrogance of the numbers of the opposition. He pointed out that one House is running smoothly and the other is not being allowed to function. Mr Jaitley assured the House that there is no intention of the government to behave in an arrogant manner.

Countering the allegation, Sitaram Yechury of the CPIM said the smooth functioning of the Lok Sabha is because of tyranny of the majority of the ruling party.