The state government presented its first supplementary budget to the tune of Rs 4,984cr in the Assembly on Monday amid bedlam by BJP MLAs who chanted slogans and rushed to the Well of the House to express displeasure at the Speaker's decision to allot a separate room for namaz within the premises, prompting chief minister Hemant Soren to criticise the Opposition for its disruptive ways.

Question Hour had to be suspended because of the continuing chaos. A scheduled discussion on employment and price hike could not be held too.

The Assembly had to be adjourned thrice since the start of the day's proceedings at 11 am. The first adjournment was at 11.30am. The House re-assembled at 12.45pm and was adjourned again within 10 minutes after state finance minister Rameshwar Oraon tabled the first supplementary budget. The House reconvened at 2.08pm, but had to be adjourned soon after till 3.03pm.

The BJP first moved an adjournment motion before the start of Question Hour seeking cancellation of the namaz room allotment. Party MLAs also demanded amendments to the state's employment policy by including Hindi, Sanskrit, Magahi and other local languages. But the Speaker disallowed the motion, asking the MLAs to allow the House to function.

While Congress MLA from Barkagaon Amba Prasad rose to question the government on the employment situation in the state, BJP’s Bhanu Pratap Shahi led the ruckus in the House, forcing the Speaker to adjourned the House till 12.45pm.

Finance minister Oraon tabled the supplementary budget after the House re-assembled but repeated disruptions meant that a debate on the supplementary budget could not be held. The pandemonium continued even after lunch break.

Before the start of the day's proceedings, BJP MLAs sat at the entrance of the Assembly performing bhajans with many playing traditional musical instruments. Deoghar MLA Narayan Das danced while singing "Hare Rama, Hare Krishna", while others chanted "Jai Shri Ram" _ all this to protest against the Speaker's decision day's ago to allot a separate room for namaz within the Assembly premises.

Talking to reporters later, Hemant criticised the BJP for stalling the House. “As an Opposition party, the BJP doesn’t have any issues. Hence, its MLAs are disrupting the House. They are doing injustice to the people (voters) of this state. Today, the CM’s Question Hour could not be held. It was an occasion for them to ask questions directly. We were ready to answer all their queries," he said.

Asked if the decision to allot a separate namaz room in the Assembly would be rolled back, the chief minister was clear. "I don’t think there is any need. Mann mein agar astha ho toh sab jagha prarthana kar lenge. Lekin mann mein agar rakshash ho toh sab dusman hi lagega (If you have faith in your heart you can pray anywhere. But if you have demons inside you, you will consider everyone as your enemies).”

Former chief minister Raghubar Das, however, threatened to sit on a dharna near the Assembly if the state government did not go back on its namaz room decision within the next 48 hours. In a letter to the Speaker, Das said, “Being the head of a constitutional and democratic institution, the onus of maintaining the virtues of constitution and its norms solely lies on you. I, therefore, urge you to take back this unconstitutional notification within 48 hours. Or else I will sit outside the Assembly entrance to hold a protest."