NEW DELHI: The Nandigram issue rocked the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday with Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members continuing with sloganeering that forced an adjournment of the House till April 25.

As soon as the House assembled in the morning, BJP members were on their feet, raising slogans against West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya. They were warned by the Chairman Bhairon Singh Shekhawat to refrain from rushing into the well. "Do not march into the well or else you will regret it later," the Chairman warned before adjourning the House for an hour.

The scene was no different when the House reassembled at 12 noon but Deputy Chairperson K. Rehman Khan continued amidst the din with the business of laying papers, moving and passing the National Institutes of Technology Bill, 2006, the statement by Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and even ran through the list of Special Mentions.

At this stage, BJP members trooped into the well, continuing their sloganeering more vociferously and demanding a discussion on the Nandigram issue. Left with no choice, the Deputy Chairperson was heard telling BJP members who had stationed themselves just below his chair: "Go to your seats, I am adjourning the House."

Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India expressed concern over the opposition's tactics of stalling proceedings in Parliament stating that such acts were dangerous for parliamentary democracy.

CPI Parliamentary Party leader Gurudas Dasgupta said that ever since the BJP lost power in 2004, it had been disrupting proceedings in Parliament, especially the Budget.

"This year they disrupted the Railway Budget, allowed the presentation of the Union Budget, took part in the debate but did not hear the Finance Minister's reply. Many days in the first half of the current session were lost and in the process we could not even take up issues like price rise, internal security and agricultural sector problems concerning people," he said.

Mr. Dasgupta said: "This development is extremely harmful as there is a feeling among people that Parliament is being reduced to nothing. MPs are not doing their work but prefer to take allowances ... the largest democracy is not functioning."

However, the CPI leader expressed satisfaction that the Government was now willing to accommodate his persistent request that Parliament should meet at least 100 days a year. Mr. Dasgupta recently received a letter from Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi that every effort would be made to increase the number of sittings and hoped that it would reach 100 days in a year.

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