Rajya Sabha disrupted over who speaks first on Kishtwar

The Rajya Sabha was disrupted Monday as the treasury and opposition benches got into an argument over who would speak first on the Kishtwar clashes.

Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley, who was on Sunday stopped from going to the clash-hit area in Jammu, was supposed to make a statement as soon as the house met at 11 a.m.

However, with a slew of issues being raised, including protests against the formation of Telangana, the solar scam in Kerala and the violence in Kishtwar, the upper house was adjourned.

At noon, when the Rajya Sabha met after a second adjournment, Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien called Jaitley to make his statement.

However, he was stopped by Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajeev Shukla, who said the government was ready to make a statement.

BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu objected to this, saying the leader of opposition was entitled to speak first.

The chair agreed that Jaitley should be allowed to speak.

However, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said the government should make the statement first.

"This is a new precedence you are trying to set, government always speaks first," Chidambaram said.

As the argument continued between the treasury and opposition benches, Bahujan Samaj Party leaders also expressed dissatisfaction over not being allowed to speak on the issue.

Amid the din the upper house was adjourned for half an hour.