New Delhi: Days after Members of Parliament from the Opposition and treasury benches came to blows over the issue of Rahul Gandhi’s apology as demanded by Union minister Harshvardhan, the former Congress president Monday asked his MPs to desist from making “emotional” protests in the house and stick to well thought out strategies before agitating.

At a meeting of party MPs in the morning, Mr Gandhi asked them to take up a particular topic, formulate a proper strategy and then protest inside the house, sources told this newspaper.

Following this, it was decided to take up the issue of SC/ST reservation in both houses of Parliament Monday, sources added.

Trouble broke out in the Lok Sabha Friday when Mr Hashvardhan asked Mr Gandhi to apologise for a remark he made against Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an election rally earlier this week.

Within minutes of the demand, MPs from both treasury benches and the Opposition were seen facing each other as if in a battlefield and almost coming to blows. It all began when the Union minister read out the apology demand before the house. Congress MP from Virudhnagar, Tamil Nadu, Manickam Tagore, jumped into the well and moved towards the minister but was stopped by BJP MPs led by Kaiserganj MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

As both sides almost came to blows, Congress MP from Ernakulum, Kerala, Hibi Eden, was seen playing peacemaker and leading Mr Tagore out of the melee. However, the ruling side demanded an apology from both Mr Tagore and Mr Gandhi, alleging that the former had tried to attack the Union minister.