Home minister P Chidambaram had the first taste of the BJP-led NDA's boycott of him in Parliament with the Lok Sabha today witnessing a brief but sharp protest from the Opposition when he was called to reply to a question.

The entire BJP rose in unison during the Question Hour when Chidambaram started replying to the first question in the Winter session put by Raghuvansh Prasad Singh (RJD).

Chidambaram was seated in the first row next to Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

Speaker Meira Kumar, however, adjourned the House till noon as members waved placards and raised slogans on a variety of issues ranging from better prices for cotton to formation of separate Telangana.

NDA had yesterday decided to boycott Chidambaram in Parliament, alleging his involvement in the 2G scam during his tenure as Finance Minister. The NDA wants Chidambaram to quit.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh earlier in the day strongly defended Chidambaram contending that there was no case for NDA's call to boycott the Home Minister in Parliament.

"As far as the boycott is concerned, I sincerely hope that the political parties will desist any such temptation. There is virtually no case for a boycott of the type that has been talked about in the newspapers," Singh told reporters outside Parliament on the opening day of the session.

BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu said that the NDA would continue to demand his resignation till he quits. "We are demanding that he resign or we will continue to boycott him," Naidu told mediapersons.

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Stormy start to parliament's Winter session

(PTI) Winter session of Parliament today got off to a stormy start with members raising issues ranging from better price for cotton to a separate Telangana and BJP protesting against Home Minister P Chidambaram, forcing adjournment of the Lok Sabha till noon.

Soon after Speaker Meira Kumar completed obituary references, the members were seen on their feet waving placards and raising slogans on various issues.

Congress members from Telangana region chanted 'we want Telangana' and carried placards which read 'implement the promise on formation of Telangana', 'introduce Bill on Telangana'.

Amid din, the Speaker called for the Question Hour.

As Chidambaram stood up to reply, BJP members rose in unison to protest against him.

BJP-led NDA has been demanding resignation of the Home Minister alleging his involvement in the 2G scam when he was Finance Minister, and has decided to boycott him in Parliament.

BSP members, including Shafiqur Rahman Barq, carried a banner demanding 10 per cent reservation for Muslims.

Shiv Sena members, including Chandrakant Khaire and Ganesh Dudhgaonkar, stormed the Well to seek better price for cotton.

As noisy scenes continued, the Speaker adjourned the House till noon.

CPI not to back NDA's call to boycott Chidambaram

(PTI) CPI today said while the entire Opposition was united on the issue of price rise, it did not support NDA's move to boycott Home Minister P Chidambaram on 2G issue, saying it would "expose" him inside and outside Parliament.

"We are not for boycott of any minister...There are no made for each other propositions in politics. We know who P Chidambaram is. We will expose him inside and outside Parliament," CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta told reporters outside Parliament House.

Denying that his party had a "soft corner" for Chidambaram, he said as a member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) looking into the scam, he was trying to find out evidence on the 2G issue.

NDA had yesterday decided to target Chidambaram by boycotting him and not allowing him to speak in Parliament, holding him also responsible for the 2G scam.

On the issue of price rise, Dasgupta said his party was ready to discuss it in Lok Sabha tomorrow. "But, government will have to listen to us...The Finance Minister is repeating the cyclostyled statement of the Finance Ministry," he said.

"The economy is almost insolvent, the GDP and production are down and there is threat of retrenchment...Government has no face, it is shameless," he said.