The walkout by Congress, however, was strongly condemned by the ruling party, including Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, who ridiculed the action of leader of the opposition Virbhadra Singh.

The trouble started after the Governor's address when CLP leader Virbhadra Singh tried to make a point, saying the Governor's address had several omissions, as there was no mention of hike in power tariff. He received whole-hearted support from Congress members.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister J. P. Nadda strongly protested against Singh's utterances and urged the Speaker that there was no precedent to allow the Leader of Opposition speak, when the motion of thanks on the Governor's address had not yet been moved.

Congress members, however, staged a walkout, even as Nadda made a strong plea to expunge the remarks made by Singh, alleging he had broken all traditions of the House.

The Chief Minister launched a scathing attack against the CLP leader. He alleged that Singh had not learnt any lesson from the advice given by the Speaker. He flayed the Congress for promoting dynastic rule and individual worship in the state.

Terming the Congress action as unfortunate, Dhumal alleged instead of a debate on the Governor's address, Singh had walked out from the House. He condemned the brazen behaviour of Congress members in this regard.

Subsequently, Babu Ram Mandyal, a BJP MLA, who quoted the rules of procedure, said Virbhadra should not have been allowed to speak in the House as the motion of thanks had not been moved.

Later, addressing mediapersons outside his house, Virbhadra Singh said the government was making a concerted attempt to saffronise the educational institutions and government machinery. He said developmental works in the state had come to a standstill. He said the law and order situation had deteriorated and the police had failed in its attempt to tackle the problem.