New Delhi: The Laloo-Paswan spat rocked the Rajya Sabha today (Dec 9, 2004) as an unrelenting Opposition sought an immediate response from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue leading to adjournment of the House 35 minutes ahead of the lunch recess.

Soon after the Question Hour, Leader of the Opposition Jaswant Singh raised the issue and said that it would have been better if the Prime Minister were present in the House to respond to the serious matter.

Singh wanted the Prime Minister to clarify whether the two key Ministers in his Cabinet were flouting the ethics of collective responsibility by casting aspersions on each other.

Such a spat between two Ministers was tantamount to undermining the democratic system, he said.

Singh pointed out that the two Ministers were levelling corruption charges against each other involving hundreds of crores of rupees.

As Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Suresh Pachouri declined to respond to the demand, BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) members led by Sushma Swaraj and S S Ahluwalia were up on their feet vociferously demanding that the Prime Minister should respond to the issue.

The BJP members resorted to slogan shouting "Pradhan Mantri Jawab Do, Pradhan Mantri Hazir Ho", stalling the proceedings for nearly 20 minutes.