Can you spot the mark? A thrown-out MP, Veer Pal Yadav, shows purported “marks” of injury suffered during the eviction. (PTI picture)

Between 3.20 and 3.35pm on Tuesday, the Rajya Sabha watched spellbound as scenes never before seen in the Indian Parliament unfolded. The nation’s drawing rooms caught snatches of the sounds but missed the sights as House cameras stayed glued to the face of chairman Hamid Ansari, who was less perturbed than what he had been on Monday.

Among the scenes that did not make it to television screens were one protesting MP actually taking a nap in the well of the House, grown-up and growling men being bodily lifted, some employing a purported wrestler’s tactic to frustrate grappling marshals, a glass shattering into pieces in the melee and friendly banter among so-called opponents.

The Telegraph tracks Tuesday’s “spectacle”, blow by blow.

Squatter Seven

• 11.30am: Ansari announces suspension of seven MPs till March 17 (the first leg of the budget session) for “unruly” behaviour on the previous day. The seven are Lalu Prasad’s brother-in-law Subhas Yadav (RJD), Sabir Ali (LJP), Nand Kishore Yadav (SP), Kamal Akhtar (SP), Amir Alam Khan (SP), Veer Pal Singh Yadav (SP) and Ejaz Ali (suspended from JD(U) and unattached now).

• 11.35: The seven squat in the well of the House and declare they will stay put, come what may. “Hum raat bhi yaheen guzarenge, yaheen nahayenge, yaheen dhoyenge (we will spend the night here, we will bathe and wash here),” says Subhas.

• 12 noon: Chairman adjourns House — the second such break of the day

Footwear loose

• 1.45pm: 15 minutes to go before scheduled resumption at 2pm, the barefoot squatters (their footwear were scattered around) look relaxed and pleased with the attention they got from industrialist and MP Rahul Bajaj. From the well, Akhtar shouts across to minister Ambika Soni that all this “zabardasti” (pressure) over the bill was not good. When Arun Jaitley breezes past, they ask him to sit with them.

•1.50pm: Sanjay Singh, the director of Rajya Sabha security, does a quick recce with 15 security men. The squatters stare curiously at him.

• 2pm: P.J. Kurien, who presided over the adjournments, takes the Chair and wastes no time in announcing another one-hour break.

The BJP’s nerves start acting up. Its backbenchers shout why the House cannot run normally and march towards the door leading to the chairman’s chamber. The watch-and-ward staff stop them but they threaten to break the door.

Time for a nap

• 2.30pm: Squatter Sabir Ali sprawls in the well for a catnap, minister Ghulam Nabi Azad who was briefly in charge of parliamentary affairs, greets the suspended members. Everyone gapes at step-siblings M. Alagiri and Kanimozhi exchanging banter. Did someone say they were estranged?

• 2.45pm: Kurien is welcomed by Jairam Ramesh with the epithet “Mr Adjournment”.

Mother of all bills

• 3.00pm: As Ansari walks in to take his place, the BJP backbenchers chant “Jai Mata ki Jai” in what seemed like an obeisance to Mother, a lietmotif that recurred in almost every speech that hailed the bill as a matriarchal “tribute”.

• 3.02pm: The squatters, who look re-energised, began shouting: “We will not tolerate the dictatorship (of the government), withdraw the bill, give the rightful share to Muslims and OBCs, it is anti-Dalit.” A male official signals the women officials seated on the secretary-general’s table to leave. A new slogan rises: “This dadagiri won’t work.”

Cat and muscle

• 3.05pm: The BJP’s S.S. Ahluwalia and backbenchers rise to their feet and tell the squatters to leave. Subhas tries to reach the chairman’s table and wrench the pen-stand, he is pushed out by a marshal. Akhtar wags a finger at the Chair and warns: “This dictatorship is not on.” Two marshals lunge at him but the short and muscular Akhtar ducks and moves around in circles with his comrades.

Eviction, ahoy

• 3.06pm: Operation Eviction begins. Ansari, who looked shocked when he was attacked on Monday, is a picture of composure. He looks at the House and then at the papers on his table as though it’s business as usual.

• 3.10pm: As many as 50 watch-and-ward men, in beige and blue uniform, troop in and take positions. Some array themselves in the front and the rear of the chairman’s seat, others ring the secretary-general’s table.

A few place themselves before the first row of the treasury benches that seat the Prime Minister and his senior colleagues.

Others spread out across the House. Reinforcements are put in place near the two exits, one leading from the door adjacent to the Opposition benches and the other leading through the middle of the House.

• 3.15pm: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh enters to cries of “shame, shame” from the BJP that makes plain its disapproval of the strong-arm tactics.

• 3.17pm: The voting signs on the electronic scoreboard are turned on. Voting without a discussion? Wonder some.

Lift and ferry

• 3.20pm: Two men accost Sabir Ali. He tries to fend them off, using his hands and legs. He’s more than a match for the two. Four other guards join forces and bodily lift Ali. Six pairs of hands are required to carry the stocky Ali, who like Akhtar is known for sporting prowess.

The BJP shouts “shame, shame”, the Left watches impassively and Congress members look relieved and thrilled by turn.

• 3.22pm: Ejaz Ali needs two men to throw him out. But Nand Kishore and Subhas, both former pugilists, prove tougher. They pummel and kick the guards, asking them not to conduct themselves like — of all the epithets — bathamiz (uncouth persons).

• 3.25pm: The BJP’s Vinay Katiyar is in the well of the House as Ahluwalia tries hard to rein him in. Akhtar, who’s multi-tasking, punches a security man in the stomach and also raises slogans. Jaitley, who was standing and waiting for the opportunity to open the discussion, goes up to the chairman and then to the Prime Minister with Ravi Shankar Prasad.

So do Satish Misra and Akhilesh Das of the BSP. The Prime Minister looks shell-shocked.

Wrestler’s trick

• 3.30pm: At one point, Akhtar and Subhas lie down with their stomachs pressed so close to the floor that there is no space for the guards to wedge their hands underneath and lift them. A veteran remembers that Raj Narain, a former wrestler who defeated Indira Gandhi, used to fall back on a similar tactic during melees.

Glass shatters

Akhtar then clambers on to a seat in the front row. Brinda Karat is behind him. A guard pulls him back but he resists. Akhtar asks for a glass of water. As he begins sipping, a security man knocks him on his left hand. Akhtar looks furious and smashes the glass. Four men encircle him but to no avail as he dives and takes cover under the seat.

A dozen marshals sweep in to pursue the day’s prize catch. It occurs to someone that the glass shards must be picked. While that job is done, Akhtar gives the slip and heads to the exit. But the pursuers catch up and he is “captured” by 12 men. Nand Kishore and Subhas are flung out.

Bout over

• 3.35pm: As the House is about to resume proceedings, BJP and BSP members demand that the guards should also be evicted. “This is India, not a police state,” screams Balbir Punj. The uniformed men suddenly disappear as the remaining Samajwadi and RJD MPs weakly step into the well to continue shouting slogans.

But it is clear the protestors are on the mat — at least for a day. Round One goes to Sonia Gandhi, who was watching on TV at home.