PATNA, Feb. 17 -- Ruckus broke out in the Bihar legislative assembly on Monday as the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), a junior partner in the ruling NDA, launched a vociferous attack on the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), accusing it of insulting the late Ram Vilas Paswan, the iconic Dalit leader and former Union minister. The Opposition RJD hit back by demanding an immediate hike in reservation quotas for deprived castes to 85 per cent, breaching the Supreme Court's 50 per cent cap. The house descended into chaos soon after proceedings began, forcing speaker Prem Kumar to adjourn the session till 2 pm as repeated appeals from him to bring the House in order failed. The flashpoint was a remark made last week by Bodh Gaya MLA Kumar Sarvajeet, an RJD legislator and himself a Dalit, who had referred to the late Ram Vilas Paswan as "bechara" (hapless) during a discussion in the House. LJP(RV) legislators, led by party state president Raju Tiwari, demanded an unconditional apology, calling the comment a deliberate insult to their "ideological father" and evidence of the RJD's "anti-Dalit mindset". Union minister Chirag Paswan-led LJP(RV) had already protested the remark on Sunday by staging a demonstration and burning an effigy of RJD working president Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, the Leader of the Opposition in the assembly. When reporters sought his response on Monday, Kumar Sarvajeet stood his ground. "The LJP(RV) is trying to divert attention from repeated assaults on the rights of SCs, STs and OBCs by the BJP-led Central government," he said. "Chirag Paswan has maintained a deafening silence on these issues. I only said that things would not have come to this pass had the late Ram Vilas Paswan been alive." The speaker initially continued with question hour, but the issue flared up again during zero hour. As LJP(RV) members pressed their demand for an apology, RJD legislators countered by raising placards calling for reservation quotas to be raised to 85%. The competing slogans and protests drowned out all attempts to restore order, leading to the adjournment. In a separate development during Monday's session, industry department minister Dilip Kumar Jaiswal informed the assembly that the state government will write to the Centre seeking an increase in Bihar's ethanol procurement quota. Responding to a short-notice question by MLA Shyam Rajak, the minister said the Centre has fixed a daily purchase quota of 1,060 kilolitres, equivalent to 35 crore litres annually. However, Bihar's distilleries are currently producing 1,602 kilolitres per day - around 50 crore litres a year - far exceeding the allocated quota and causing difficulties for producers. MLAs Kumar Sarvajeet, Jivesh Kumar and others raised supplementary questions, pointing out that while total prohibition is in force in Bihar, ethanol is in high demand in other states. They urged the government to ensure market access for local producers. Jaiswal rejected claims that the ethanol industry was in crisis, stating that the government provides incentive amounts to units. According to a December report, he added, the units remained shut for only two days. The minister assured members that the issue would be resolved soon....