The Rajya Sabha has been adjourned till 12 noon following uproar by the members of opposition parties over the suicide of Hyderabad University PhD scholar Rohith Vemula.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati raised the issue in the Rajya Sabha and demanded the government's response to allegations that the research scholar, a Dalit, was persecuted and two Union Ministers had a role in it.
Rohith, who committed suicide last month, was among the five research scholars suspended by the Hyderabad University in August last year over an alleged assault case.
The matter took a political turn with allegations that the extreme step taken by Rohith was a result of discrimination against Dalit students at the behest of Union Minister of State for Labour Bandaru Dattatreya, following his letter to Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani, seeking action against their 'anti-national acts'.