Rajya Sabha adjourned till 2 pm as NDA MPs raise Congress-George Soros link

Several members of the treasury benches accused top Congress leaders of colluding with billionaire investor George Soros to destabilise the country and demanded a discussion

Proceedings of the Rajya Sabha were adjourned till 2 pm on Monday as members of the treasury benches accused top Congress leaders of colluding with billionaire investor George Soros to destabilise the country and demanded a discussion on the issue.

The Upper House witnessed two adjournments during the pre-lunch session as the claims triggered protests from opposition members.

Soon after a brief first adjournment during Zero Hour, Leader of the House J P Nadda said BJP members were agitated over an issue that involved Congress leaders and wanted a discussion.

"All our members are agitated over reports against certain leaders of the opposition. Our leaders are keen to hold a discussion on the issue," he said.

This prompted several ruling party members to allege that top Congress leadership had links with Soros. They demanded that the issue be discussed in the House as it is connected to national security.

Several MPs of the BJP and other NDA allies raised the issue and demanded an immediate discussion on it while Congress members alleged that this was being done to divert attention from the Adani issue.

Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge and other Congress leaders like Jairam Ramesh and Pramod Tiwari asked how the chairman was allowing the ruling party members to raise the issue when he had rejected their notices in this regard.

Congress' Digvijaya Singh also questioned the Chair.

Amid the din, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said the House was not in order and adjourned it till 2 pm.

Earlier, BJP's Laxmikant Bajpayee was given the floor to raise his Zero Hour mention and he started speaking on the issue of national security.

Congress' Ramesh objected to his remarks, saying when the Chair has rejected notices under Rule 267, then the issues mentioned therein should not be allowed to be raised.

This led to arguments between treasury and opposition benches, prompting the Chair to adjourn the House till 12 noon.