Rajya Sabha adjourned till 2 p.m.

New Delhi, Aug 1 (IANS) The Rajya Sabha was on Tuesday repeatedly adjourned amid noisy -protests by the opposition over various issues.

During Question Hour, Congress members objected to NOTA (None of the Above) being an option in the Rajya Sabha polls in Gujarat.

Chairman Hamid Ansari told the members that this was not the occasion to raise such issues but the opposition MPs insisted it was an issue pertaining to Rajya Sabha election and could be raised.

Ansari first adjourned the House for 10 minutes. But as soon as the House met again, the Congress members were again on their feet. The Chair then adjourned the House till 2 p.m.

Earlier, during Zero Hour, the opposition criticised the government for deciding to hike the price of domestic LPG by Rs 4 per cylinder every month and gradually ending the subsidy.

Opposition members cutting across party line raised slogans. The Chair adjourned the House for 10 minutes amid the din.

As the House reconvened, the opposition again raised the issue. Petroleum Minister Dhrmendra Pradhan tried to defend the government amid sloganeering. The MPs refused to listen to him.

The House was then adjourned till 12 noon.

As the Rajya Sabha met at 11, Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad raised the issue of Rajya Sabha Chairman and Deputy Chairman not being invited to an official function in the Parliament House premises on Monday.

Azad said it was an insult to the entire House. He was joined by other opposition leaders including Sitaram Yechury of CPI-M, Tiruchi Siva of DMK and Naresh Agrawal of Samajwadi Party.

They said the Rajya Sabha was being deliberately neglected by the government.