Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday said he had concrete information that many Congress MPs could carry out an "unexpected act" by reaching the spot where Prime Minister Narendra Modi sits and therefore he asked him not to come to the House to deliver his address.
If this incident had taken place, then this would have left the democratic traditions of the country in shreds, Birla said as the House reassembled at 3 PM.
Lashing out at opposition members, the Speaker said the conduct of some of them in his office on Wednesday was not appropriate and in fact was "like a black spot".
"With sadness I have to inform that some members displayed such behaviour in the House on Wednesday that had never been witnessed in its history," he said.
The Lok Sabha on Wednesday witnessed dramatic scenes as women opposition MPs charged towards the prime minister's seat holding banners ahead of his scheduled speech, leading to adjournment of proceedings for the day.
Modi was not present in the House, and BJP member P P Chaudhary was making his remarks on the Motion of Thanks on the President's Address when the opposition members trooped into the Well of the House.
Birla said the dignity of the chair has been established in the Constitution.
"Never in history have political differences been dragged to the House. The conduct of the opposition members in the office of the Speaker was not appropriate and in fact it was like a black spot," he said.
"When the Leader of the House was to reply (to the debate on the motion of thanks on the President's address), I had concrete information that many members of the Congress party could carry out an unexpected act by reaching the spot where the prime minister sits," he said.
"If this incident had taken place, this would have left the democratic traditions of the country in shreds. To avoid this, I requested the PM to not come to the House and as the Speaker it was my responsibility to uphold the dignity of the House," Birla said.
The Speaker thanked Modi for acceding to his request and avoiding unpleasant scenes in the Lok Sabha by not coming to the House on Wednesday.
Birla later adjourned the House for the day as opposition members raised slogans and protested.
Priyanka Gandhi said, "There is no question of anybody raising hands on the PM, trying to hurt him, or any such thing. It is absolutely wrong for anybody to say that there was any such plan. The PM is now hiding behind the Speaker. They are making the Speaker say all this because yesterday he didn't have the guts to come in the House."
“There is no question of anybody raising any hands on the Prime Minister or hurt him or any such thing. There is no question. So, it is absolutely wrong of anybody to say that there was any such plan. There was no such plan," she said in response to a question.
“I am not aware of the context of what the Speaker is communicating to the Prime Minister. But I don’t believe there are any unpleasant or risky situations in the House. All members are entitled to be in the House, and Parliament is not functioning because the government is not giving the opposition space to have its say," said Congress MP Karti Chidambaram.
The BJP, meanwhile, condemned planned violence and said the Congress has exposed its true face, "which is anti-India and pro-violence." "This is how the Naxals used to behave. Under the garb of democracy, they used to practice every anti-democratic act. If Congress MPs thought about this, then this is dangerous," said BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari.