New Delhi, Dec. 8: A combined Opposition today tried to embarrass the government by mourning the demonetisation-related deaths outside Parliament, highlighting the Centre's refusal to even acknowledge the nearly 100 people who died while trying to access their own money.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, however, took to Twitter to salute the people "for wholeheartedly participating in this ongoing Yagna against corruption, terrorism & black money".
In saying so, Modi appeared to be responding to Rahul Gandhi's charge of constantly changing his goalposts since the November 8 announcement - from "black money, then terrorism, then counterfeit currency and now cashless economy".
Apart from repeating the government refrain that the current problems are short-term pain for long-term gain, Modi also claimed that the note ban would benefit farmers, traders and labourers.
Modi's tweets further agitated the Opposition, already incensed by his penchant for monologues outside Parliament while avoiding a discussion inside.
The government has been saying the Prime Minister will intervene in the House at some point, but the Opposition indicated that his hit-and-run strategy would not suffice in Parliament.
"We want him to hear us out, intervene and allow us to ask for clarifications on his response," said CPM member Sitaram Yechury.
As the Opposition went for the jugular, the government took steps to try and keep a rein on the narrative.
It amended Parliament's business for the day to table a notification for a limited transaction tax waiver on card payments, while the finance minister made a slew of announcements to incentivise digital transactions.
President Pranab Mukherjee's disapproval of House disruptions came as a bonus for the government although Rajya Sabha Opposition leader Ghulam Nabi Azad insisted the rebuke had been directed more at the government as "they are still behaving like an Opposition party".
"It is the ministers who have been disrupting proceedings this session," Azad said.
Indeed, as the government benches erupted against Azad's call for an obituary reference for those "martyred" by demonetisation, Chairperson Hamid Ansari was forced to issue a reprimand: "Honourable ministers can't be agitating."
Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu had set the ball rolling by protesting that the government was unable to have its say while the Opposition managed to have its way. The ministers who joined in included J.P. Nadda, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.
As the government benches led the protests, Ansari repeatedly appealed for an end to the turmoil in vain.
Before entering the House in the morning, members from 16 Opposition parties wore black bands and staged a silent protest at the Gandhi statue outside the building in solidarity with the families of those who had died following demonetisation.
Rahul took a dig at the push for a cashless economy, telling reporters that if he were allowed to speak in the Lok Sabha, he would show how "Paytm" actually meant "Pay-to-Modi''. He accused the Prime Minister of having fun at the people's expense.
Asked whether discussions would resume in either House, most Opposition members said it depended on what the government offered. "If they come with a concrete proposal, we will consider it," an MP said.
Azad said: "Instead of reaching out to the Opposition, the government provokes us repeatedly. There are Union ministers who give statements against us several times a day outside Parliament when it is in session, and then they blame us for disrupting.
"When we were in the government, we used to go across to the Opposition several times a day to resolve such issues."
Derek O'Brien, Trinamul's leader in the Rajya Sabha, tweeted a rejoinder to the government's frequent lessons on parliamentary decorum.
"RS productivity: 2G scam (2010) Session: 23 days. Actual hrs of sittings 2 1/2 hrs. With that record in Oppn, BJP shouldn't preach," he wrote.
