New Delhi, June 8
Both Houses of Parliament were adjourned today without transacting much business as the Opposition led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continued with its scathing attack on the UPA government for inducting "tainted" persons in the Union Council of Ministers.

While the Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day minutes after it assembled at 11 a.m., the Lok Sabha was first adjourned till 2 p.m. and immediately thereafter as angry members of the Opposition continued its tirade against the government.

In the Lok Sabha, as soon as the first item of swearing-in of a few remaining members was completed, vociferous members of the BJP and its allies started raising slogans against the induction of "tainted" ministers and trooped to the well of the House.

Raising slogans such as "Dagi Mantri Hatao, Desh Bachao (remove tainted ministers and save the country)" and "Bapu Tere Desh Main, Dagi Mantri Ke Bhesh Mein (tainted people are ministers in the land of Mahatma Gandhi)", Opposition members demanded that the "tainted" ministers be dropped.

NDA convener George Fernandes, who was seated next to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, was among the first ones to raise the issue of "tainted" ministers. This sparked off protests from the treasury benches, especially from RJD member Raghunath Jha and some of his other party colleagues. RJD supremo Laloo Prasad Yadav was seen asking his party colleagues to exercise restraint.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee, HRD Minister Arjun Singh and Home Minister Shivraj Patil were seated in the first row of the ruling side.

Amid the din, Speaker Somnath Chatterjee directed that the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President for his address to joint sitting of Parliament be initiated.

Congress member Pawan Kumar Bansal moved the motion expressing gratitude to the President for his address and criticised the NDA government for its anti-people policies.

Mr Chatterjee called upon Congress member Jyotiraditya Scindia to second the motion of Mr Bansal.

Mr Scindia completed his speech amid uproarious scenes and slogans by Opposition members. The Speaker adjourned the House within 30 minutes of assembling in the morning.

Similar scenes were witnessed when the House re-assembled for the post-lunch sitting, the Opposition members rushed to the well shouting "we want justice". The Speaker adjourned the House till tomorrow.

The Rajya Sabha also witnessed uproarious scenes on the same issue as Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Sushma Swaraj raised a Point of Order on behalf of the Opposition. She said Leader of the Opposition Jaswant Singh wanted to raise the issue of "tainted" ministers in the House but the members of the ruling alliance did not allow him to speak.