New Delhi: On the last day of the first part of the Budget Session on Monday, February 13, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned by Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar following strong protests by opposition parties in pursuance of its demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to be formed to probe allegations against the Adani group.The House shall now reconvene on March 13 for the second half of the session.The opposition parties, who earlier in the day met in the chamber of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Congress’s Mallikarjun Kharge, had decided to continue with their protests in parliament over the Adani issue. The leaders of the various parties had also decided to oppose the expunging of parts of Kharge’s speech and suspension of Congress MP Rajani Patil for allegedly videographing the House proceedings while the opposition was protesting during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reply to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address.The meeting in Kharge’s chamber today was attended by the MPs of 14 parties: Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, Communist Party of India (Marxist), CPI, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Aam Aadmi Party, Samajwadi Party, Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal, Rashtriya Lok Dal, Indian Union Muslim League and Revolutionary Socialist Party.Following this meeting, when the Rajya Sabha convened and Dhankhar tried to start with the scheduled proceedings of the Zero Hour and Question Hour, the opposition MPs raised the issue of the Union government not acceding to their demand for a JPC probe into the Adani issue and its impact on the various public institutions and banks which have investments in the Group.As Kharge raised these issues and also demanded to know why some of his remarks were expunged, Dhankar said: “You have indicated that the Chair is acting under pressure. These words are expunged. You are forfeiting your right to hold the floor of the House every time you are saying that the Chair is acting under pressure.”Amid protests from the opposition members, the House was first adjourned till 11.30 pm. When it reassembled, Dhankhar appeared to attempt to impress upon opposition members that they should allow the House to take up its work.Opposition members again trooped into the Well of the House and raised slogans in protest. They demanded that the JPC be constituted. Incidentally, during his address in both Houses of parliament during the Motion of Thanks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had spoken for about a hour and half each but steered clear of either mentioning Adani or making any commitments on the JPC probe.Dhankhar, at one point, told opposition members, “Let us not ridicule this temple to that level.”The Congress MPs also raised the issue of the suspension of Patil and urged Dhankar to reconsider his decision to suspend her for the rest of the Budget Session.As for suspension of Patil, he said he had taken a “lenient view” in the matter.Dhankhar also accused opposition MPs of causing “deliberate obstruction” and cautioned that he would be compelled to act in accordance with “people’s expectation” in the matter.While the opposition shouting slogans against the government, the Treasury benches raised slogans of “Modi, Modi” to oppose Kharge’s remarks. Dhankhar said in view of the “deliberate and persistent disruptions” he was compelled to adjourn the House for the day and announced that it would now reconvene on March 13.Meanwhile, Union Minister and Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal accused the opposition of disrespecting the Chair. “The opposition didn’t let the Rajya Sabha function smoothly. It is indirectly a disrespect of the Chair. Many members were passing comments. They come to Parliament with the motive of not letting dialogues happen peacefully,” he said.