Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu broke down today in the Upper House as he turned emotional while reading out a statement condemning the rowdy behaviour of opposition MPs which he termed as an act of “sacrilege” in the “temple of democracy.”

Opposition MPs on Tuesday had stood on tables at the centre of the Rajya Sabha, shouted slogans, waved black flags and flung files on the floor during a discussion on the farmers' protests.

The Vice President said, "I have no words to convey my anguish and to condemn such acts as I spent a sleepless night, last night" and then his voice choked with emotion.

It was after a long pause that he resumed his speech, saying, "I struggle to find out the reason or provocation for forcing this august house to hit such a low yesterday."

Mr Naidu said the opposition could have discussed their objections to the farm laws in the house, protested or voted against it. "But it is for the government to act. You cannot force the government to do this or not to do this. Yesterday was a golden opportunity for the concerned members to have gone on record, but it seems their sole intention was to not allow the house to function."

Though the visuals of the opposition protests were not shown yesterday on television, MPs shared them on Twitter.

Mr Naidu commented that "after the sacrilege", members even posted the incidents on social media.

"I was very sad and deeply anguished," he said, asking members to "seriously reflect" on what happened.

However, quite undeterred, the Opposition MPs again gathered around the table, clapping and chanting slogans. They accused the Chair of speaking for the government instead of staying neutral.