New Delhi: Union finance minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday ruled out any statement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the ongoing conversion row and accused ‘arrogant’ opposition parties of not letting Rajya Sabha function.

The government has been under opposition fire since the religious conversions of at least 60 Muslim families in Agra in Uttar Pradesh last week to Hinduism in a ceremony by groups linked to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

The Bajrang Dal and the Dharam Jagran Manch, the groups that performed the mass conversions, reportedly claimed the families were originally Hindus and converted to Islam around 30 years ago.

“The government has no intention of being arrogant, we want this house to function. The fact is that one house is functioning properly and the other is not allowed to function, means it’s arrogance of numbers and not the government,” said Jaitley.

“We are open to discussion on conversions but home minister will respond. The opposition cannot dictate who will reply to a debate,” Jaitley was quoted as saying by NDTV.

Earlier in the day, the opposition had stalled proceedings in Rajya Sabha over a repeated demand that Prime Minister Modi be called to the upper house to make a statement on the conversion row that has hogged national headlines for the past few days. 

The Prime Minister, was, however, present in Lok Sabha.

Even on Wednesday the BJP had ruled out any statement from the PM regarding the issue.

“Will the Opposition decide what the government or the party would do?” parliamentary affairs minister Venkaiah Naidu had asked.

The government is looking for ways to push bills despite the Opposition disrupting proceedings in Rajya Sabha where it is in a minority.

With four working days of the Winter session of Parliament remaining, the government wants to push a number of key legislation, including the insurance bill and one for its other major reform, the Goods and Services Tax or GST.

Several parties, including the Congress and Trinamool Congress, have issued a whip to their MPs to remain present in the upper house on the last two days of session.

At an informal meet between the government and opposition leaders, the latter refused to give assurance that order would be restored if the PM makes a statement.