The Bharatiya Janata Party was in for a shock and embarrassment as its ally Shiv Sena's MPs brought placards in both houses of parliament and raised slogans seeking the dismissal of the BJP government in Karnataka.

Equally perturbed was the Congress as the MPs of its ally Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) too joined the Shiv Sena protest, both inside and outside parliament. A Congress leader wondered if it were a beginning of a new political alignment in Maharashtra.

Members of both parties sprang a surprise with their own demand even as the BJP and Left members created a ruckus demanding resignation of home minister P Chidambaram for helping a 'fraudster' hotelier, forcing adjournment of question hour and then for the day to meet again on Monday.

The Shiv Sena and NCP members were protesting against alleged atrocities on the Marathi-speaking people in Karnataka's Belgaum area on the border of Maharashtra. The Samajwadi Party members also jumped into well in both houses, displaying newspapers on alleged diversion of the central funds by BSP chief minister Mayawati's government in Uttar Pradesh.

After letting finance minister Pranab Mukherjee reply to a question amid din, speaker Meira Kumar adjourned the house till noon while deputy speaker Karia Munda got the railways' supplementary budget passed amid pandemonium before adjourning for the day.

Same scenes were witnessed in the Rajya Sabha where former Lok Sabha speaker Manohar Joshi trooped into the well with his Shiv Sena members demanding dismissal of the Karnataka government even as other opposition MPs were shouting for dismissal of Chidambaram. Chairman Hamid Ansari adjourned till noon and later the house was adjourned for the day by deputy chairman K Rahman Khan.

TELANGANA GOES

Most upset from the Rajya Sabha adjournment for the day was BJP member Prakash Javadekar, whose resolution on creation of a separate Telangana state was on top of the private members' business listed for the afternoon session. (Friday afternoons are for the private members' resolutions and bills and the houses are not adjourned for their business even in the event of pandemonium since protests are basically against the government and not against the members.)

Javadekar blamed the ruling Congress, indirectly indicting the deputy chairman, for denying him a chance to voice the concerns of people of Telangana. "It is betrayal by the Congress of the people of Telangana. Just to avoid the issue they disturbed the House today. BJP condemns the act," he said.