New Delhi, Aug 16 (IANS) Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal blamed the opposition for the disruption of parliament Tuesday.

"We told them if you let the Lok Sabha run for an hour, we were ready for a discussion on Anna Hazare's arrest at noon. They could have let the question hour run," Bansal told reporters.

"Whatever they said about Home Minister P. Chidambaram's reply to the statement by Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj, they should have said inside the house," he said in reply to a query.

Bansal denied the opposition charge that he was defying Speaker Meira Kumar's ruling allowing the leader of the opposition to make a statement before the question hour.

"I did not say about the speaker's ruling. We can request the speaker to allow the government to respond to the observation of the leader of the opposition," he added.

Swaraj could not speak as members of the Lok Sabha, including those from the treasury benches, made noises and disrupted the house proceedings. The BJP members too stood up at their seats and started shouting.

Swaraj requested the speaker twice to set the house in order before she could speak.