After the Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day, Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu called Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad to his chamber and 'conveyed his unhappiness over the way a good discussion on NRC in Assam was derailed towards the end.


The Rajya Sabha had taken up the discussion by doing away with the Question Hour, but the debate was disrupted due to vociferous protests by TMC, Congress and some other parties which finally led Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu to adjourn the House for the day.


The protests began soon after BJP President Amit Shah took a jibe at the erstwhile Congress-led governments for not showing the courage to identify illegal migrants in Assam in accordance with the 1985 accord, forcing adjournment of the proceedings for the day. Shah's remarks asking whether the Opposition wanted "to save illegal Bangladeshis in Assam", provoked the opposition members including those from the Congress and TMC who trooped into the Well demanding a reply from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.


"This was the Congress PM's initiative. He (Rajiv Gandhi) did not have the courage. We have courage and we are doing it," he informed the House. "NRC is being conducted on the SC order. There are 40 lakh people (missing in the list) ... Whom do you want to save? You want to save illegal Bangaldesis," the BJP chief posed.


Shah's remarks provoked noisy protests by the Opposition members led by those from the Congress and the TMC. The House was adjourned for about 10 minutes.


File pic.