Absence of interpretation of Lok Sabha proceedings into English led to a brief adjournment of the House as members protested, prompting Speaker, Ms Meira Kumar, to apologise for the inconvenience.
DMK member, Mr T.R. Baalu, raised the issue during Question Hour when minister of state for power, Mr Bharatsinh Solanki, was replying to a query in Hindi on hydropower projects in the country.
Mr Kumar assured Mr Baalu that the problem will be corrected soon. But, it failed to mollify Mr Baalu, who threatened to boycott the Question Hour.
"We do not want to sit (in the House). Suspend Question Hour for some time or we will have to boycott it," Mr Baalu said and began walking in the aisle.
He was joined by some other DMK members.
At this point, Mr Solanki, offered to answer the question in English, a move objected to by BJP members who demanded the reply in Hindi only.
The BJP members in unison said that since the question has been put in Hindi by Hansraj Ahir (BJP), the reply should be in Hindi. "We want the reply in Hindi. Hindi is our national language, it should be respected," Hukmdev Narayan Yadav said.
Amid the din, the Speaker adjourned the proceedings for 15 minutes till 1145 hours.
When the House reassembled, the Speaker said, "I want to apologise. There was some technical fault in English translation. So some members may have felt inconvenient. It has been corrected."
Raghuvansh Prasad Singh (RJD) was seen shouting along with other members insisting on use of Hindi language.
The finance minister and Leader of the House, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, shouted back at Mr Singh asking him to sit down, reminding him that he also had been a Cabinet minister.