Madhya Pradesh: BJP Raises Hue, Cry as Congress Does Away With Tradition of Singing Vande Mataram at Secretariat on First Day of Month

State Congress spokesman Bhupendra Gupta sought to play down the incident, saying the CM was out of the station.

Bhopal: Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has taken umbrage to the Congress-led government’s decision put the order to sing Vande Mataram on the first day of the month in the Secretariat on hold. (Also read: ‘No Ban on The Accidental Prime Minister,’ Says CM)

Speaking to ANI, Chouhan said, “It’s unfortunate that the Congress ended this tradition. I demand from the Congress government to reintroduce this and if they don’t do it, I will sing Vande Mataram with patriots at Vallabh Bhavan.” Later, he added, “All of our 109 MLAs will recite ‘Vande Matram’ at the Madhya Pradesh Secretariat in Bhopal on January 7.

Since it was his government that had introduced it, Chouhan said, “It’s a mantra that instils a sense of patriotism and so, the BJP government had decided that we’ll start weekly Cabinet meetings with it and that it’ll be sung at  Vallabh Bhavan (Secretariat) on the first day of every month.”

The incident of the national song not being sung on the first day of the month came to light on Tuesday, January 1.

ANI quoted Chief Minister Kamal Nath as saying, “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?”

Madhya Pradesh General Administration Department (GAD) additional chief secretary Prabhanshu Kamal could not be contacted despite repeated calls.

State unit BJP spokesman Rajneesh Agrawal tweeted that the rendition of Vande Mataram is organised by the state general administration department (GAD), a portfolio held by Chief Minister Kamal Nath.

“Has it been on his direction? He (Nath) has recently said that he does not care for criticism. Is there going to be a ban on ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ chant (sic),” he tweeted.

कांग्रेस सरकार ने मंत्रालय में वन्दे मातरम् किया बंद क्यों कर दिया गया ? जो कि हर माह की 1 तारीख़ को किया जाता है ? वंदेमातरम को साम्प्रदायिक बताने वालों की मंशा को पूरा कर रही है कांग्रेस सरकार। बदलाव के नाम पर वंदेमातरम बंद करने का कार्य तुष्टिकरण की नियत उजागर करता है।

— Rajneesh Agrawal (@rajneesh4n) January 1, 2019

State Congress spokesman Bhupendra Gupta sought to play down the incident, saying the CM was out of the station. He said Vande Mataram couldn’t be sung as SR Mohanty took charge as Chief Secretary on Tuesday itself, implying that officials were busy.

“Why the BJP is creating a fuss over it? If it (Vande Mataram) was not sung today, its rendition will take place tomorrow or later. Nothing much should be read into this,” the Congress leader said.