PATNA, Feb. 20 -- Tempers boiled over in the state assembly on Friday during zero hour when CPI(ML) MLA Sandeep Saurav a remark in context with the Supreme Court-stayed UGC equity regulations which the ruling NDA members termed "casteist".

Speaker Prem Kumar expunged the remark from the record.

Raising the issue, Saurav said people with "a particular mindset" had opposed the University Grants Commission (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2026 - notified on January 13 to replace the milder 2012 framework with stricter, binding provisions against caste discrimination on campuses.

The rules had sparked protests at several places before the apex court stayed them on January 29, calling the provisions "too s...