Vande Matram used to be sung in the park opposite Vallabh Bhavan, which houses the Secretariat of the MP government. This practice was introduced by the then BJP chief minister Babulal Gaur. Officials and employees working in the Vallabh Bhavan would assemble in the park on the first of every month before the start of the working day for mass singing of Vande Matram. Invariably some minister also used to participate in the recital of the national song. But suddenly, on this years’ first January Vande Matram was not sung, which led to a fierce controversy. The first to lodge strong protest was the former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. He termed stoppage of singing Vande Matram as an unpatriotic act. He announced that BJP members would assemble at the park on the morning of January 2 to sing the song.

Accordingly, several former BJP ministers, legislators and other local BJP leaders assembled at Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel Park and not only sang Vande Matram but ended up chanting slogans like “Is desh mein rahna hain to bharat mata ki jai kehna hoga’. When media persons requested them to sing “Vande Matram’ some of the BJP leaders could not do it properly on their own. “Very few people know the complete text of Vande Matram. If you ask me to recite the national song on my own, I may not be able to do it. But I respect it all the same,” said former MLA Surendra Nath Singh.

MLA Rameshwar Sharma said “I can sing the first stanza. If you sing it in unison, you would be able to sing it completely, but if you are asked to do it on your own, you may face problems. It doesn’t mean that we don’t respect Vande Matram or have no right to protest of the recital is stopped” he said.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Kamal Nath clarified that there is no intention to insult the national song. But the idea was that the event should be held in a better and organised way. A spokesman of the government stated that the event was reduced to mockery. He said that the number of officers and employees working in the Vallabh Bhavan who attended the singing event was never more than 200 to 300. Therefore, the idea is to hold the event in such a way to ensure massive participation. As per the decision, event will be made more inclusive. National anthem ‘Jana-Gana-Mana’ will also be sung.

Under the new system, the police band will march from Shaurya Smarak to Vallabh Bhavan playing different patriotic songs at 10.45 am. General public can also accompany the police band. Once the band and the public reach Vallabh Bhavan, the national anthem and the national song will be sung. Officers and employees of the state government will also take part in Vande Matram programme to be held on the premises of Vallabh Bhavan.

The new Vande Matram singing programme will be organised on the first working day of every month only. The members of state council of ministers will take part in the programmes in turns. The Vande Matram programme will also take place in a festive manner at division/district headquarters on the first working day of every month immediately before the start of office. The national anthem and national song will be recited under the programme.

The programme has been made attractive in the new format and common people will be encouraged to join. With the participation of the masses, the Vande Matram singing programme will become one of Bhopal’s centre of attractions.

BJP president Amit Shah also joined the controversy and posed the question whether singing was stopped on the orders of the Congress president. Reacting to Shah’s comment, Chief Minister Kamal Nath said “BJP is playing politics with Vande Matram; sometimes they play politics on Ram Temple and now on Vande Matram; I consider this wrong and strongly condemn it”.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan has announced that he along with all the 109 MLAs of BJP will recite Vande Matram at Vallabh Bhavan ground at 10 am on January 7. People are welcome to join the programme” he tweeted on Wednesday adding that BJP legislators will take oath only after recitation of Vande Matram. The first session of the newly constituted Assembly begins on January 7.

Besides registering the protest over Vande Matram, the BJP described the decision to suspend payment of pension to MISA detainees as political vendetta. The final decision to scrap pension will be taken in a few days. MISA pension is given to those who were arrested during Emergency under Maintenance of Internal Security Act. (IPA Service)