Vande Mataram, National Anthem to be Sung With Police Band at Vallabh Bhavan: Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath
A political row erupted after the Congress government put on hold the previous BJP government’s 14-year-old tradition to recite Vande Mataram.
Bhopal, January 3: Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath on Thursday announced both the national anthem and Vande Mataram will be sung in the secretariat on the first working day of every month. "At 10:45 am on first working day of every month, police band will play the tunes that encourage patriotic feelings during their march from Shaurya Samarak to Vallabh Bhawan in Bhopal. On arrival at the Bhawan, National Anthem and Vande Mataram will be sung," Kamal Nath announced.
A political row erupted after the newly-elected Congress government in Madhya Pradesh put on hold the previous BJP government’s 14-year-old tradition to recite Vande Mataram in the secretariat. Expressing discontent over the decision, former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan demanded the reinstatement of the practice, while adding that 109 BJP MLAs will recite the national song at the Secretariat and then take oath on January 7. Remove Deendayal Upadhyaya Picture From Letter Pads: Congress Government in Rajasthan Reverses Another BJP Decision.
"The song renders new energy to the patriotism present in the hearts of people. This is extremely unfortunate that the Congress has ended this convention. Today, Vande Matram was not sung... Congress perhaps has forgotten that governments come and go, but there is nothing more important than the country and patriotism. I demand that the song is sung before a cabinet meeting as always, and it should also be sung at Vallabh Bhawan on the first day of the month," Chouhan tweeted.
After facing flak, Nath on Wednesday said that his government would give a new touch to the national song. "We have no intentions of breaking or protesting against the national song. The order to recite Vande Mataram in the Secretariat on the first day of the month has been put on hold. A decision has been taken to implement the order in a new form. Those who do not recite Vande Mataram are not patriots?" the chief minister said.
Hitting out at the BJP for doubting the intentions of his party, Nath said: "BJP should stop doing politics on nationalism. These issues are taken up to distract common men from the real issues of poverty, corruption and unemployment."
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 03, 2019 01:34 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).