Vande Mataram showdown in Karnataka Assembly as BJP MLAs sing full version
Karnataja BJP legislators continued reciting the remaining stanzas and raised slogans against the Congress government for not playing the song in full.
The BJP legislators recited the full version of Vande Mataram at the beginning of the Legislative Assembly and Council proceedings on Monday, when the recording that was officially played in the House ended after two stanzas.
The Karnataka government convened a three-day special legislative session to discuss severe drought prevailing in the state as well as the implications of Kasturirangan report on Western Ghats.
The session at the Legislative Assembly started with Vande Mataram but it ended after rendering two paragraphs. Soon after that, Speaker GS Patil allowed condolences to the prominent people. Subsequently, Chief Minister DK Shivakumar started paying tribute to former MLA RB Shiriyannavar who died on August 27.
Agitated over the issue, the BJP MLAs raised slogans and started reciting the full version of Vande Mataram.
Similarly, at the Legislative Council, the BJP members continued reciting the remaining stanzas of the national song, even as Council Chairman Saleem Ahmed started reading the preamble of the Constitution, as per the practice. The BJP members then shouted slogans against the government for not playing the Vande Mataram in full.
The Congress government in Karnataka has ordered that only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram be sung at its programmes, except those attended by the president, vice-president, prime minister or governor.