The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday saw repeated disruptions over the Assam NRC issue and was adjourned for the day amid ruckus in the post lunch session.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who was scheduled to reply to the discussion on the issue, could not do so for the second day in a row.

As the House met, Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu asked BJP President Amit Shah to resume his speech on the discussion on the National Register of Citizens (NRC) of Assam that he could not complete on Tuesday due to pandemonium.

At this, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Sukhendu Shekhar Roy raised a point of order and said that as per the rules of conduct of the upper House, a member cannot speak twice on the same issue if he fails to complete his speech in the first instance. Roy received support from Congress MPs too.

However, Chairman Naidu said he had given Shah permission to speak and asked him to continue.

As soon as Shah stood up to speak, TMC members trooped near the Chairman’s podium and started shouting slogans, asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi to come in the House and make a statement on the issue.

Meanwhile, Amit Shah requested the Chair over the din to go ahead with the reply by the Home Minister and voluntarily sat down.

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Naidu called Rajnath Singh to give the reply and asked the members to restore order in the House. However, as the sloganeering continued, the Home Minister tabled his reply in the House amid the din.

Naidu then adjourned the House for the day.

The opposition Congress and Trinamool Congress attacked the government in the Lok Sabha as well over the NRC issue, accusing it of attempting to polarise people and forcing them out of their land.

Arpita Ghosh of the TMC referred to George Orwell’s novel “1984” to snipe at the government, accusing it of carrying out surveillance of citizens through Aadhaar and now using the NRC to force people out of their lands.

“It should be stopped,” she said.

“1984” is a dystopian novel set in the year 1984 when most of the world population had become victim of war and government surveillance.

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury of the Congress said the NRC has created an atmosphere of uncertainty.

He said different kinds of statements are being made on the NRC issue. While BJP president Amit Shah said the government had the courage to execute the NRC, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi claimed the NRC was his baby, Chowdhury pointed out.

“Attempts to polarise people is being made,” he charged.

Raising other issues, Sher Singh Ghubaya of the Akali Dal voiced concern over spread of cancer in Punjab, especially in the Malwa region, and asked the government to provide financial assistance to patients.

(With inputs from agencies)