BJP MP Kharabela Swain’s remark that only people from Bihar, that too belonging to a particular caste and religion, had got 70 per cent of the jobs in Group D Railway Services in Orissa led to an uproar, causing the final adjournment on Monday. He further alleged that only people from Bihar had been appointed to the Zonal Railways Users’ Consultative Committees in some zones. Insinuating misconduct, Swain also pointed out that Oriyas could crack the IAS exam but not a Railways exam.

As the House resumed in the afternoon, RJD’s Devendra Prasad Yadav called for imposition of Article 355 in Maharashtra calling the the state Government irresponsible and ineffective. Yadav added that Raj Thackeray was “indulging in a new form of terrorism targeting people of a particular region”. He also said that Railway Protection Force’s Director General had sought more police cover for the examination from the state but his requests went unheeded.

Even as Samajwadi Party’s Ramji Lal Suman demanded an immediate ban on MNS and said Thackeray had been targeting north Indians for a long time, BJP’s Shahnawaz Hussain asked that while people from India could go all over the world to work, would they now “need a work permit from Thackeray to work in Maharashtra?”

Calling Raj Thackeray a “mentally bankrupt person” JD(U)’s Rajiv Ranjan Singh wondered why the Central Government could do nothing to control him. He also dared the Centre to give a notice to the Maharashtra Government under Article 355 .

As a counterpoint, Shiv Sena’s Anant Geete said that there were more than 42 lakh educated unemployed youth in Maharashtra and that it was the faulty methods adopted by the Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) that led to the violence since these jobs were not advertised in regional and Marathi newspapers.

CPI’s Gurudas Dasgupta said there was something “fundamentally wrong” with Maharashtra, adding that the country would split if such situations were allowed to continue. He also accused the Congress Government of playing soft on the matter since it was afraid of Marathi chauvinism.

Earlier, the morning session of the House began on a stormy note with several uproarious scenes erupting, marked by repeated adjournments. Members vied with one another to raise different issues.

Most Opposition members and even those belonging to UPA constituents like DMK and RJD were standing when the House assembled. However, BSP members Iliyas Azmi and Akbar Ahmed ‘Dumpy’ stood out when they walked into the well. Sporting pink-and-white Arabian scarves, they protested against the Jamia Nagar encounter. Speaker Somnath Chatterjee adjourned the House till noon without taking up Question Hour.

Trouble erupted again at noon. Independent member from Assam S K Bwismuthiary and two PMK members came into the well. Minister for External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee tabled his statement on the India-US nuclear deal amidst din. After this, Chatterjee asked Bwismuthiary to speak. The member, after giving a broad account of the Muslim-Bodo violence, demanded a high-level inquiry into the clashes. As he was speaking, Mohammad Salim of the CPI(M) interrupted him and started speaking along side.

Bwismuthiary came into the well, squatted on the floor and even took off his traditional Bodo gown. When persuaded by Congress chief whip Madhusudan Mistry to get up, Bwismuthiary, instead of returning to his seat, squatted on the side of the Treasury Benches. He could be persuaded to return to his seat only with a lot of effort. But the storm erupted again when members belonging to the SP, RJD, BJD, Shiv Sena, CPI and CPI(M) started speaking simultaneously forcing the Speaker to adjourn the House till 4 pm.