As the Opposition continued to stall Parliament on Wednesday, BJP leader L K Advani expressed his displeasure with Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar for not being able to ensure the smooth functioning of the House.

Forty-three minutes after the House met a second time at noon, the Speaker adjourned the Lok Sabha for lunch. Advani, who was seated in the front row, asked a Lok Sabha official till what time it had been adjourned. The official told him that it had been adjourned till 2 pm. Advani then exclaimed in exasperation, “Why not sine die?” “Who’s running the House? It is running on its own. Neither the Speaker nor the Parliamentary Affairs Minister is running the House,” said Advani.

While most members had left, Ananth Kumar tried to pacify Advani. He was seen pointing to the Press Gallery and cautioning Advani about the media listening to his remarks. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs S S Ahluwalia also walked up to Advani, and was seen whispering to him.

But Advani continued to speak. “I am going to tell the Speaker that she is not running the House… I am going to say it publicly. Both sides are a party to this,” he said.

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He then left the Lok Sabha, with Ananth Kumar and Ahluwalia following him. As mediapersons tried to speak with Advani, both the ministers and senior party MP Ganesh Singh accompanied him to his vehicle, and ensured that he did not talk to anyone. An MP who was present in the lobby at 11:45 am recalled how BJP chief whip Rakesh Singh and Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal tried to calm down Advani, who was visibly “agitated” and was heard saying “this cannot be like this”.

Sources said Advani, who is also chairman of the Committee on Ethics, was upset over the current state of the Lok Sabha. They said he could not understand why the BJP-led government, despite its numbers, was not able to run the House.

“Members belonging to Opposition parties are being allowed to park themselves in front of the treasury benches and shout slogans,” said a source. Following an intervention by Ananth Kumar last week, the Speaker had cautioned protesting members against standing in front of the treasury benches, but there was no subsequent action.