The suggestion, though, didn’t find favour with the allies even when the Biju Janata Dal saw a “Bofors-like potential” in the issue. While allies like the Shiv Sena and SAD were strongly against mass resignations, the JD-U argued that resignations, if absolutely necessary, should be considered only on “issues like price rise”. Coming around, the BJP then suggested that “the struggle would continue in the House as well as outside the House”. BJP’s L K Advani, Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj and V K Malhotra; JD-U’s Sharad Yadav and Prabhunath Singh; Shiv Sena’s Manohar Joshi and Anant Geete; SAD’s S S Dhindsa and BJD’s B K Tripathi took part in the deliberations.

Later, referring to reports that the UPA government was considering postponement of Parliament’s monsoon, scheduled for August 11, Sushma said: “There is no reason for cancellation or postponement of the session. We will oppose any such move tooth and nail. A debate on the nuclear deal is yet to be held in the Rajya Sabha.”