The first two days of the 21-day Monsoon Session were washed out, with no work being done in either House amid protests from the Congress, which wants three top BJP leaders caught in controversies to resign. The government is equally adamant that they will not quit.

As Parliament reconvened this morning the Congress indicated that it hasn't had a change of heart overnight. Its Jyotiraditya Scindia said, "Disruption is a completely valid form of protest in Parliament," adding, "The people want answers from this government. There is neither any clarification nor any action."

"Anand Sharma does not want resignations," said Mr Jaitley in the Rajya Sabha, about a notice moved by the Congress leader for a suspension of the Question Hour to discuss Lalitgate, the scandal centered on assistance provided to tainted cricket mogul Lalit Modi by Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.

The Minister pointed out that the Congress notice does not seek the resignation of the BJP leaders. The Left's Sitaram Yechury said the Opposition would agree to a discussion on the Lalit Modi controversy "only after action is taken" against the leaders.

"The Congress is running away from discussions. We have said that we have no problem in discussing anything," said Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu, who briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi this morning. PM Modi also met BJP lawmakers before Parliament proceedings began.

The Congress has slammed the BJP for its attack on its Uttarkhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat, who it has accused of corruption. "We are not saying even for a millisecond that anyone from us is not accountable. But that does not mean that the government's accountability is over," said Mr Scindia.

The allegations against Mr Rawat are seen as a Chief-Minister-for-Chief-Ministers attack. The Congress has said Ms Swaraj and Ms Raje, and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, besieged by the Vyapam recruitment scam, must resign for the Houses to function.

Both party presidents, the Congress's Sonia Gandhi and the BJP's Amit Shah, have given explicit instructions that leaders must aggressively defend the party stand. There will no backing down, is the message in both camps.

The government has offered to debate 'Lalitgate' and Ms Sushma's role, but says Parliament cannot debate on state issues - the Vyapam scam linked to Mr Chouhan and Ms Raje's links to Lalit Modi. Opposition leaders say both controversies are national and merit an urgent discussion.