The Congress on Monday created a storm in Parliament and disrupted proceedings over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's charge at a poll rally that an Italian court had named Sonia Gandhi in AgustaWestland chopper bribery case.
Rajya Sabha saw four adjournments in the first two hours because of the continued uproar and sloganeering by Congress members, leading to washout of the Zero Hour and Question Hour.
"Narendra Modi maafi mange. 'Feku' Mama maafi maange (Narendra Modi should apologise. Bluffmaster should apologise)," shouted members of the Congress in the Rajya Sabha, which failed to transact any business excpet one question during the Question Hour.
In Lok Sabha too, the issue generated heat soon after it assembled for the day with Congress members raising the matter.
The Congress questioned how the prime minister could make such allegations when the defence minister had not stated this in his reply to debates on the controversy in both the Houses last week.
The opposition party wanted to know which court Modi was quoting. "Pradhan Mantri House mein aao (prime minister should come to the House)" and reply, Congress members chanted.
In Rajya Sabha, they demanded an apology from the prime minister, forcing Deputy Chairman P J Kurien to first adjourn the proceedings of the House twice during Zero Hour, first for 10 minutes and then again till 1200 hours.
Again when the House met at noon, Chairman Hamid Ansari's pleas to allow the Question Hour to function did not evoke any positive response as Congress members created pandemonium and raised slogans against the prime minister.
At one point, an exasperated Ansari remarked: "It is not becoming of the House. Do not do that. Allow the question hour to take place."
When Rajya Sabha re-assembled at 2 pm, Congress members again trooped into the well raising slogans like "Pradhan Mantri hosh me aao"(PM come to your senses).
Amid the din, Deputy Chairman P J Kurien said he had to deliver a ruling on the demand of Sukhendu Sekhar Roy of the Trinamool Congress for invoking Rule 255 against a group of members who were disrupting proceedings and creating disorder.
Dismissing the demand, Kurien said, "I have seen records and found that on March 9, 2010, seven members were suspended for the remaining part of the session from the House.... minister of parliamentary affairs then had invoked Rule 256 and not Rule 255 which can be invoked against one or two members only and not against group of members."
To oust a group of members, he said a motion should be moved in the House.
Roy said he did not question the ruling but he had raised two issues of 2010 and 2012 including in which two Telugu Desam Party members were asked to leave.
"Rules 255 and 256 have to be read together," Roy said and staged a walkout along with other Trinamool Congress members.
Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said Roy had raised a valid question.
Amid noisy protests by Congress members in the well, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha moved the Appropriation Bill, 2016 and the Finance Bill, 2016 for consideration and return.
As Kurien asked Ajay Sancheti of the Bharatiya Janata Party to speak on the bills, Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Sitaram Yechury urged Kurien to postpone the discussion as there was no order in the House.
Kurien wondered whether there was any guarantee about when the order would be restored in the House.
As members kept pressing for the prime minister's statement in the House, Kurien said he cannot ask for it.
Yechury then said, "Ask the government, let them respond."
Congress MP Anand Sharma joined him, saying the PM was pre-empting the CBI investigation since the probe agency comes under him.
