Opposition members went on the offensive on Monday in the Rajya Sabha in solidarity with their 12 suspended colleagues, forcing frequent adjournments as the Narendra Modi government refused to reconsider the suspension without an expression of remorse.

Although the Congress wanted to continue with last week’s strategy of raising the issue in the House and also participating in discussions, the rest of the Opposition parties were keen on stepping up the protest for their suspended members who have been staging daily dharnas at the Gandhi statue at the Parliament House complex since their suspension on November 29.

This was apparently in response to the sentiment among the suspended MPs that their colleagues inside the House were not doing enough to speak up for them, considering there is unanimity that the suspensions have been imposed in violation of rules.

Proceedings were adjourned five times on Monday without much business conducted as Opposition members — some of whom had come with banners — refused to stop their sloganeering against the government.

When the Chair sought to take up the short-duration discussion on price rise — something the Opposition parties themselves had sought — they refused to relent, insisting their 12 colleagues be allowed to return to the House to participate in the discussion.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who was to reply to the short-duration discussion, said: “We are accused of running away from debate. We are not running away. We have agreed to discuss it. This is complete hypocrisy of the Opposition.”

Asked about the rationale for the Opposition’s change in strategy, T. Siva of the DMK said: “It is the government's unyielding attitude towards parliamentary functioning that forced members to shout slogans and enter the Well in the monsoon session. When the government bulldozes bills without proper scrutiny and discussion like they did with the farm bills, the Opposition is left with no other option but to enter the Well and protest.

“As for not allowing discussions, our party colleagues in the Lok Sabha are discussing these very issues. We are standing with our Opposition colleagues who have been suspended.”

On whether this would be the modus operandi for the rest of the week, the RJD's Manoj Jha -- who made a rare entry into the Well -- said a decision would be taken at the Opposition meeting on Tuesday morning. "The treasury benches should show some large-heartedness and agree to revoke the suspension," he said.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has decided to stop hosting his talk show on Sansad TV, To the Point, in solidarity with the suspended MPs.

On Sunday, Priyanka Chaturvedi, the suspended Shiv Sena MP who was the only other Opposition leader with a show on the newly launched channel, had quit her show in protest against her suspension.

In his statement, Tharoor said: "The prolonged suspension of 12 MPs from the Rajya Sabha, expelled in an arbitrary manner for actions committed during a previous session, has called into question the very assumption of bipartisan spirit animating the work of Parliament.

"As an MP who has gone every morning to greet the protesters and express my solidarity with them, I am concerned that my continued involvement in hosting a show on Sansad TV would be seen as making me complicit in the undemocratic manner in which Parliamentary institutions are being run."

Tharoor referred to allegations that Sansad TV's coverage of parliamentary proceedings was biased, and that it focused mainly on the treasury benches while ignoring the Opposition.

"A parliamentary TV channel must, by definition, reflect the diversity of Parliament and not merely whitewash the reality of Parliament's current functioning," he said.