After battle of placards, Lok Sabha adjourned for the day

The Lok Sabha was on Thursday saw a battle of placards between the Congress and the BJP, forcing Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to first adjourn the house till noon and later for the day.

The first two days of parliament's monsoon session, which began on Tuesday, were also washed out due to several adjournments over the demand of the Congress and opposition parties for the resignation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and two chief ministers of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

The tussle between the treasury and opposition benches escalated on Thursday as Bharatiya Janata Party members sought to move a privilege motion against Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, over his comments in a Facebook post.

As the house met after the adjournment till noon, MPs from the Congress and other parties were on their feet, demanding action from the government.

Several Congress members moved towards the Speaker's podium, carrying placards targetting Sushma Swaraj and raising questions over the "silence" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

BJP members too moved into the aisle, carrying placards that targeted the Congress on corruption.

Congress members occupied the space close the Speaker's podium and raised slogans. At one point, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Pratap Rudy was seen seemingly telling Congress member Deepender Hooda to give some space to BJP members near the podium.

BJP members stayed put for a while in the aisle but went back to their seats after an indication from Home Minister Rajnath Singh. However, they continued to wave placards.

Amid the ruckus, BJP's Prahlad Joshi spoke on his privilege motion against Vadra though his voice was largely inaudible.

Papers were laid in the house amid the din. The speaker said some members wanted to speak but the din continued amid slogan-shouting by Congress members.

"If you do not want to run the house, I will adjourn it," she said and adjourned it for the day.

Later, Joshi told IANS he had moved the privilege motion against Vadra.

"In his (Vadra's) Facebook post, he has belittled the image of parliament. That's why I have moved the privilege motion," said Joshi, the BJP parliamentarian from Dharwad in Karnataka.

Vadra, whose land deals in Haryana and Rajasthan are being probed, talked about "diversionary politics" and "so-called leaders" in his Facebook post on July 21, the first day of monsoon session.

On Thursday, the Lok Sabha was adjourned till noon after the Congress-led opposition raised a ruckus over the Vyapam recruitment scam in Madhya Pradesh and the row over BJP leaders' association with former IPL chief Lalit Modi.

Within 10 minutes of the commencement of the proceedings, several members from the opposition took out placards and raised slogans.

The opposition is demanding the resignation of Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje over their alleged help to Lalit Modi, who is facing an Enforcement Directorate investigation.

They also want Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to go over the Vyapam sam.

Congress MP Jyotiraditya Scindia referred to rhw privilege notice by BJP members and said the government was resorting to desperate measures.

The Speaker said she would call an all-party meeting and made her displeasure known over placards.

"Without discussion the house cannot run. An all-party meeting will be called to resolve the issues," she said.