A “silent protest” by DMK members, donning T-shirts inscribed with slogans opposing the planned delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies, stalled proceedings in both Houses of Parliament on Thursday.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said the attire violated the “dignity and sanctity of the House” and adjourned the House minutes after it had assembled in the morning.

The DMK members wore white T-shirts carrying the slogan “#FairDelimitation” in red letters, followed by “Tamil Nadu will Fight! Tamil Nadu will Win1” in blue. They held a “silent protest” on Parliament’s premises before entering the Lok Sabha.

The DMK has launched a political campaign against the planned delimitation or redrafting of Lok Sabha constituencies, claiming it would lower Tamil Nadu’s relative representation in Parliament because of the state’s success in population control.

The delimitation is expected after the population censusof 2026.

Parliament has no dress code for MPs, and T-shirts per se aren’t banned. Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi is often seen in the House in his trademark white tees.

“Some members are violating the dignity and sanctity of the House…. If you come to the House wearing T-shirts, come raising slogans, come with slogans written, then the House will not run,” the Speaker told the DMK members. The MPs did not stage protests or chant slogans in the House.

Birla said the House would run if the DMK members left and returned in proper dress.

“Agar aap T-shirt utarkar aayenge toh sadan chalega. Agar aap kahte hain ki hum T-shirt pahankar aayenge toh sadan nahi chalega. Yeh spasht hai (If you come back without the T-shirt, the House will run. If you insist on coming here wearing the T-shirt, this House will not run. Let this be clear),” Birla said.

In the Rajya Sabha, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar did not directly refer to the DMK members’ attire but summoned the leaders of all the parties to his office.

“I would share with the members (at the meeting) what I have seen in the House a while ago,” Dhankhar said, adjourning the Rajya Sabha till noon. There had been no protest or sloganeering inside the House.

At the meeting in his office, Dhankhar told the party leaders that the DMK members’ attire ran counter to the decorum of the House, sources said.

DMK member Tiruchi Siva was learnt to have flagged BJP members’ chanting of “Jai Shri Ram” and “Modi, Modi…” in the House and argued that the rules should be the same for all.

As the DMK members continued to return to either House wearing the T-shirts after each adjournment, both Houses were eventually adjourned without any substantial business having been transacted.

While reprimanding the DMK members for their attire, Birla had asked them to read Rule 349 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Lok Sabha to learn how members should maintain the dignity of the House.

“We were holding a silent protest without raising any slogans,” the DMK’s leaderin the Lok Sabha, T.R. Baalu, told reporters.

He said that Rule 349, which the Speaker had cited, said nothing about a dress code. “It talks about other things but not the dress code,” he said.

Rule 349, which lists the rules to be observed in the House, bars MPs from wearing or displaying badges inside the House except for the national flag, and from the “display (of) flags, emblems or any exhibit”.

DMK member T. Sumathy told reporters: “We have been requesting the central government, especially the home minister, to clarify his statement on delimitation. It should not be decided on the basis of population.”

She added: “As a mark of protest against (the upcoming) delimitation, we are wearing this T-shirt.”

Union home minister Amit Shah had last month accused the DMK of politicising the delimitation, asserting the southern states would not lose a single seat because of the exercise.