LS sees business after week-long washout

During the debate, a flutter was created when Congress member Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury banged a placard on the table of Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, who took a serious note of it and ordered him to withdraw from the House for rest of the day.

Earlier, she 'named' Chowdhury for action and BJP member Arjun Ram Meghwal moved a resolution demanding his suspension for rest of the session.

However, Saugata Roy of Trinamool Congress, the rival of Congress party, pleaded with the Speaker not to be tough.

Mahajan said he had "insulted" the Chair and should apologise or face action as the issue relates to the "honour" of the House. BJP members supported her contention.

Chowdhury said he was offering "unqualified apology" for his behaviour. "What more do you want," he asked the Speaker, who got further agitated, saying he was attaching "riders" with his apology. She asserted that she did not want his apology with such a tenor.

Subsequently, in a balancing act, she said Chowdhury should leave the House for rest of the day and asked Meghwal to withdraw his resolution, which he did.

Congress members, meanwhile, continued to vociferously demand ouster of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan over various controversies.

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi was seen playing an active role in guiding his party members in the protest.

Members from SP, RJD and JD(U) were demanding release of the census report, while TRS members were demanding a separate High Court for Telangana.

Prem Singh Chandumajra of Akali Dal, who hails from Punjab, raised the issue of the attack, in which four heavily armed terrorists went on a rampage this morning, targeting a bus and a police station complex, leaving a number of policemen and civilians dead and injured.

He urged the opposition members to halt their protest in view of the attack as it is in the national interest.

"I appeal to you, in the national interest, halt your protest for two minutes as there has been an attack in Gurdaspur," he told the Congress members who were in the Well.

"This is a question of the country's security. People are dying... People of the state are watching. They are watching this drama (in the House)," the Akali member said.

BJD member Tathagat Sathpathy said the incident in Gurdaspur was a "grave matter", which shows that "once again terrorism is back with full force. It is not only display of ISIS flags, the threat of terrorism is perceptible here. The threat is right here in the country."

He said all political parties should unite against the fight against terrorism.

"We are not here to politicise...Strictest action should be taken. All force should be used. India should stand up to fight terrorism," the member from Odisha said.