The Rajya Sabha on Tuesday witnessed repeated disruptions as opposition members protested the delay in filling the vacancies in statutory commissions for different castes, tribes and minorities. The upper house was finally adjourned for the day around 3 p.m.

Soon after the house assembled in the morning, proceedings were adjourned first for 10 minutes till 11.25 a.m., and later till 12 noon as opposition members repeatedly raised the issue. 

Samajwadi Party's Ram Gopal Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati raised the issue during the Zero Hour.

Yadav said the government idea behind renaming of the National Commission for Backward Classes was to "target certain castes by excluding them from the list of backward castes".

Mayawati asked the government whether it planned to wind up all the statutory commissions.

Ministers M. Venkaiah Naidu and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi stood up to defend the government.

"All commissions are functioning. All of them (vacanicies) are going to be filled up... it is wrong to question the government's intentions," Naidu said amid the din.

But opposition members continued their protest and the house was adjourned for 10 minutes. 

When the house reconvened, the opposition members again created a ruckus and streamed near the Chairman's podium. The house was adjourned for the second time till noon.

Later, it was adjourned for the third time till 12.30 p.m, and again till 2 p.m.

During the Question Hour, Naqvi pointed out amid the din that the process of making appointments to the commissions was on and the delay occurred due to the Model Code of Conduct in force due to elections to five state assemblies.

"This is not the first time that appointments to these commissions have been delayed. There are too many earlier instances when appointments have been delayed by six months to a year," Naqvi said.

When the house met after lunch, the opposition members demanded a discussion under Rule 267 on the topic and sought an assurance from the government on filling the vacancies within a week.

However, the Chair did not accept any of the four notices given under Rule 267.

The opposition insisted on a discussion and again trooped near the Chairman's podium.

Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien proposed to take up the discussion on Wednesday post-lunch but the members did not agree.

Kurien then adjourned the house for the day.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was scheduled to reply to the discussion on the Finance Bill, 2017, at 3.30 p.m.