The BJP on Friday continued to aggressively demand an apology from the Congress president for Adhir Chowdhury’s “Rashtrapatni” remark and the Congress countered by seeking an apology from minister Smriti Irani for insulting Sonia Gandhi, leading to a washout of business in both Houses of Parliament.

Tension between the Treasury and Opposition benches ran so high that the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha saw adjournments within minutes of assembling. Both Houses were adjourned for the day minutes past noon.

In the Rajya Sabha, leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge tried to raise a point of order (drawing attention to a rules violation) as the House commenced but the BJP MPs immediately started shouting slogans demanding an apology from Sonia for what Adhir Chowdhury had explained was a “slip of the tongue” caused by his poor knowledge of Hindi. He has already apologised.

The Congress members countered the BJP by rushing to the Well to demand an apology from Irani for “insulting” Sonia in Parliament on Thursday.

Similar scenes were witnessed in the Lok Sabha, leading to adjournments.

For two weeks since the monsoon session commenced on July 18, Parliament has transacted very little business. First it was rocked by Opposition protests against price rise and GST on essentials.

Since Thursday, the BJP has chosen to go on the offensive, purportedly seeing in Adhir’s remark an opportunity to deflect attention from the burning problems the Opposition has been trying to highlight.

The responsibility of running Parliament lies mainly with the ruling side. Given the level of aggression from the Treasury benches, it appears that the BJP is prepared for a session washout. The monsoon session is scheduled to continue till August 12.

“The country is witnessing the Congress’s arrogance. They have made an uncivilised remark against the President and instead of tendering an apology they are asking us to apologise,” parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi told reporters.

“If the Congress has little shame, the party president should apologise,” he added, claiming that there was no basis in the Congress’s demand for an apology.

Asked about the functioning of Parliament, Joshi said he was “hopeful that from Monday normal business would resume”.

Internally, BJP managers said they were ready to face an unproductive Parliament session, pointing out that “the government doesn’t have any important bills to pass”.

Joshi, whose responsibility as parliamentary affairs minister is to take the Opposition along, even targeted the MPs on a dharna in front of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in the Parliament lawns after being suspended.

“We have heard that under Mahatma Gandhi’s statue, a firm believer of non-violence, Congress leaders were having chicken in the name of protest,” Joshi tweeted. The 27 suspended MPs from the Opposition have been on a dharna for over 50 hours now. Although they are from several Opposition parties, the minister singled out the Congress.