Govt, Oppn spar outside House over chaos inside Standoff spills out of Parliament RAJYA SABHA REPORT DETAILS An abrupt end to the monsoon session triggered another political battle on Thursday ACTIONS OF SOME OPPOSITION MPS

NEW DELHI: The Union government on Thursday launched a broadside against the Opposition over disruptions in Parliament and fielded eight ministers to argue that protests were orchestrated to derail proceedings, prompting angry rebuttals from the Opposition as acrimony that characterised the just-concluded monsoon session spilled outside the House.

The government urged Rajya Sabha chairperson M Venkaiah Naidu to set up a special committee to probe allegations that some opposition members manhandled security staff and damaged House property, and demanded action against those found guilty of violating norms and decorum.

“…We were threatened, that if you attempt to pass more bills [after a bill restoring states’ rights to identify other backward classes (OBC)] then more disastrous situation is going to happen. In unambiguous terms it was told to us,” said Union minister for parliamentary affairs Pralhad Joshi, arguing that raucous protests by the Opposition forced the government to cut short the session.

In response, opposition members said the government stonewalled their demands, muzzled their voice inside Parliament, and violated House norms by rushing bills without debate. Opposition members protested outside the House, and met Naidu to lodge their

NEW DELHI: Opposition MPS tore papers, obstructed ministers from taking their seats, choked and suffocated one marshal, dragged and pushed another, took videos and even climbed on a LED TV stand, according a report prepared by the RS secretariat on the pandemonium that rocked the Upper House in the final hours of the disruption-hit monsoon session. The Opposition denied these contentions, and blamed the government for the unruly scenes, which, they said, were sparked by “outsiders” acting as marshals.