Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], August 22 (ANI): The deadlock between the ruling Congress and the Opposition BJP continued in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly on Saturday over allegations of disrespect to the national anthem and Vande Mataram, with both sides raising slogans and staging walkouts, disrupting proceedings for the second consecutive day.
The House was adjourned twice amid heated exchanges before the Speaker finally adjourned the proceedings till Monday afternoon.
The ruling Congress accused the BJP of showing disrespect to the national anthem and objecting to its singing inside the House. Congress leaders said the Assembly follows established traditions and that the Speaker’s ruling is final.
Congress maintained that the issue was being politicised by the BJP to divert attention from other issues, including inflation, unemployment, farmers’ concerns, alleged paper leaks and corruption.
The Congress also challenged Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur and other BJP members to sing the complete national song, saying the party’s legislators would join them.
The Opposition, however, rejected the allegations and demanded that the video footage of proceedings during the national anthem be shown to all members on the Assembly’s screens.
Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur said the BJP had no objection to singing either the national anthem or Vande Mataram and had always observed both with “full devotion and respect.”
Thakur said the Opposition wanted the Speaker to establish what exactly had happened during the national anthem that led to the allegations of disrespect.
“The national anthem was sung inside the House with full dignity. Neither the ruling party nor the Opposition showed any disrespect or non-cooperation,” Thakur said.
He demanded that the footage of the previous day’s proceedings be displayed in the Assembly so that it could be established whether any Opposition member had acted in a manner that could have harmed the dignity of the national anthem.
Thakur said the Opposition had repeatedly sought access to the video footage but had not received it.
He alleged that the government was attempting to create a “wrong narrative” and accused Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu of making false statements on the issue.
“We have told the Speaker that if even the slightest action by any Opposition member caused disrespect to the national anthem, we ourselves would come forward and seek action,” Thakur said.
On Vande Mataram, Thakur said the Opposition members had always sung it with respect and were ready to sing it again.
“The issue is not Vande Mataram. The issue is that the Chief Minister is making allegations. The Speaker should give his ruling on this,” he said.
The BJP leader also criticised the government over rising inflation and said the state government should take steps to reduce the growing burden on the poor.
The confrontation led to repeated disruptions in the House, with members of both sides raising slogans and walking out. The Speaker adjourned the House twice before proceedings were ultimately deferred until Monday afternoon, leaving the dispute unresolved for the third day of the Assembly’s monsoon session. (ANI)
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