Opposition parties Congress, Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party disrupted Rajya Sabha proceedings on Wednesday afternoon to protest against the alleged use of faulty Electronic Voting Machines to favour the Bharatiya Janata Party in the recent Assembly elections. This forced Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien to seek a brief adjournment.

The agitating MPs trooped into the Well of the House and brought the session to a halt for around seven minutes. The government denied the charge and asked the protesting MPs to approach the Election Commission, not the Parliament, to air their grievances.

The BSP’s Mayawati called the ruling party “beimaan” (untrustworthy), prompting Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi to accuse her of “insulting democracy”. Angry exchanges were also seen between Naqvi and Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad.