"In Amrit Kaal...": Opposition's Price-Rise Protest With Placards Angers Lok Sabha Speaker

Monsoon Session: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla tells Opposition MPs, "Only if you go to your seats will you get the chance."

Speaker Om Birla was rather blunt today with Opposition members protesting inside the Lok Sabha against price rise: "The House is for discussion and raising issues, not for raising slogans and creating chaos." 

He got upset after Opposition MPs gathered in the Well of the House, holding packets of curd, butter and buttermilk, questioning the levy of Goods and Services Tax on essentials that were earlier out of the GST ambit.

Mr Birla was particularly angry about placards. "People have not sent you to show these placards. Those doing that are hurting the prestige of the House."

"In 'Amrit Kaal', people expect meaningful discussion from us," he added. "Amrit Kaal" -- a term from Vedic astrology that refers to a period of great success -- is often used by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to describe India's current state.