New Delhi, July 2 -- A parliamentary committee meeting ended abruptly on July 1 as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs protested against the panel's decision to hear activist Medha Patkar and actor-turned-activist Prakash Raj.

The Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, headed by Congress MP Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka, had called Patkar and Raj to hear her views on the implementation and effectiveness of the land acquisition law enacted by Parliament when the Congress-led UPA government was in power in 2013.

Patkar had led protests against raising the height of Sardar Sarovar Dam in Gujarat and is accused by the ruling party of working against the country's development interests in the name of public and environmental cause...