BJP MPs protest against Congress in Parliament

“Regret to see India led by such so-called leaders!!”, Vadra had said in his post. Taking their cue from Mrs Gandhi, Congress MPs trooped into the Well of the House and plunged it into pandemonium.

Citing a 2011 incident, the BJP said that cutting across party lines, members in both Houses had then given notices against actor Om Puri and former police officer Kiran Bedi, among others, for using “derogatory and defamatory” language against MPs during anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare’s campaign.

Soon after it was raised, Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Jyotiraditya Scindia rushed to Speaker Sumitra Mahajan’s chamber.

“In his (Vadra’s) Facebook post, he has belittled the image of parliament”.

The Congress has said there will be no discussion in Parliament without the resignation of BJP leaders linked to the Lalit Modi and Vyapam controversies – Sushma Swaraj, Vasundhara Raje and Shivraj Chouhan.

“The government is coming forward for discussions but the opposition is not ready to discuss anything”.

A privilege motion was moved against Robert Vadra by the BJP’s chief whip Arjun Ram Meghwal who alleged that this amounted to “contempt” and “clear cut case of breach of privilege” and would be referred to the privileges committee for an “appropriate decision”.

At that meeting, party sources told The Hindu, she had said that the Congress was now an Opposition party, and it, therefore, needed to adopt a tough line.

Later, emerging from the House, senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily attacked the BJP government for “bankruptcy and poor management”.

On Friday, the Lok Sabha was adjourned just four minutes after proceedings began for the day. Mr Gandhi was, incidentally, accidentally hit by a television microphone in the eye.

It was as much a “war of placards” between the Congress and the BJP as it was a war of words in the Lok Sabha today.

The Bhartiya Janata Party on Thursday launched a counter offensive against the Congress by raking up graft charges against Congress Chief Ministers in Himachal Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Kerala and Assam, and said the Congress had become “synonymous with corruption”.