New Delhi : LokSabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday said he was saddened over the manner in which the Opposition protested in the House a day earlier while seeking an adjournment motion to discuss the Pegasus snooping issue in Prime Minister NarendraModi and Union home minister Amit Shah’s presence. He warned of strict action against “habitual offenders”.

Yesterday’s incident was very painful and against the norms of the House. Whatever happened yesterday was against the basic ethics of the House. If there are any complaints, then they should come to my chamber with the issues,” Birla said.

At least nine Congress members tore placards with protest messages and threw them in the LokSabha on Wednesday and an unidentified lawmaker blew a whistle in the RajyaSabha as the Opposition continued its protests against the snooping row and the three farm laws.Ruling Bharatiya Janata Party members on Thursday demanded an apology from the Opposition for throwing papers towards the chair.

Congress leader AdhirRanjanChowdhury blamed the government and said that the Opposition was unable to raise issues in the House.

Parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi interrupted Chowdhury and asked the Opposition to apologize. “They (opposition members) threw big bundles of papers towards us, the chair and the media… do they not want to even apologize to the chair?” He added the government is ready for the discussion. “...this is not the way the Opposition (should) behave.”

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi earlier also said the government was not allowing the Opposition to raise the issues of national importance. In a tweet in Hindi, Gandhi said: “The foundation of our democracy is that the parliamentarians should be the voice of the people and discuss the issues of national importance. Modi government is not allowing the opposition to do this work.” He asked the government not to waste Parliament’s time and let inflation, farmers, and Pegasus spyware issues to be discussed.