NEW DELHI, April 16: Both houses of the Indian parliament were adjourned Tuesday for the second day in a row as opposition MPs demanded the dismissal of the chief minister of Gujarat state, where sectarian violence has claimed more than 800 lives.

Opposition members of both houses demanded the government convene a special debate and vote on the Gujarat issue.

But the government’s refusal led to opposition MPs storming the well of the lower house, forcing the speaker to adjourn proceedings first for an hour and later for the entire day.

Similar scenes resulted in the upper house which suspended business for the day.

“We are not stalling parliament,” Jaipal Reddy, spokesman for India’s main opposition Congress party said.

“We want a special debate. As all the conditions have been met there should be no difficulty in taking up such a motion.”

The situation in Gujarat, especially the issue of Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s resignation, poses a serious threat to the coalition government’s majority in parliament.

Modi, who has been accused of turning a blind eye to the bloodbath in Gujarat, offered his resignation to a BJP leadership conference at the weekend. The offer was rejected with the party executive directing him to seek a fresh mandate in early elections if necessary.

That decision infuriated opposition parties and caused a potentially damaging rift between the Hindu nationalist BJP and its coalition allies.

The government’s biggest ally, the regional Telugu Desam Party, stopped short Sunday of withdrawing support from the coalition over the issue but vowed to keep up the pressure on Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s BJP party to sack Modi.

Earlier on Tuesday, BJP MPs in parliament endorsed the party executive’s decision to retain Modi as chief minister of Gujarat, BJP spokesman V.K. Malhotra told reporters.

The MPs also supported the government’s stand to refuse a special debate which would entail a vote, Malhotra said.—AFP