Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], August 21 : The Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee president Vinay Kumar on Friday strongly condemned the uproar in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly over Vande Mataram, accusing the BJP of deliberately creating a controversy to divert attention from issues it may have to face during the ongoing monsoon session.
The controversy erupted on the opening day of the Assembly session, with the BJP alleging that the National Song was being disrespected, while Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu accused BJP MLAs of disrespecting the National Anthem.
Kumar said the Assembly has a long-standing convention under which the National Anthem is sung at the beginning of proceedings and the National Song at the conclusion of the session.
"I strongly condemn what happened in the House today. There has been a tradition that whenever we conclude an Assembly session, the National Song is sung. The Speaker also announced that the National Anthem would be sung first and asked everyone to stand," Kumar said.
He said there was nothing unusual about the sequence followed in the Assembly and accused the BJP of attempting to divert public attention from issues that could come up for discussion during the session.
"I believe the BJP has no other issue left. They have done this simply to divert everyone's attention from the tradition that has been followed since Independence," he said.
Kumar said the same practice was followed by the Congress even at its party offices.
"Not only in the Assembly, but also in our party offices, we begin with the National Anthem and conclude with the National Song. It was sung today in the same manner in which it has always been sung," he said.
The Congress leader alleged that the BJP wanted to prevent discussions on several issues, including alleged paper leaks, what he described as "theft of the people's mandate", and the increase in sugar prices.
"These distraction tactics are being used so that issues like paper leaks, the theft of the people's mandate and why sugar prices have reached Rs 65, allegedly because of ethanol policies, are not raised in the House," Kumar alleged.
He accused BJP leaders of attempting to dilute these issues by turning the Assembly proceedings into a controversy over Vande Mataram.
"The BJP has tried to dilute all these issues. What happened in the Assembly today is very shameful and is, in a way, an insult to the people of Himachal Pradesh and India," Kumar said.
The controversy over Vande Mataram led to a sharp exchange between the ruling Congress and BJP members on the first day of the monsoon session. The BJP has alleged that the National Song was disrespected, while the Chief Minister has accused BJP MLAs of disgracing the National Anthem.
Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania subsequently adjourned the House for the day amid the ruckus. He said the established practice of the House is to begin with the National Anthem and conclude the session with the National Song, and that there was no occasion on the opening day to raise an issue over Vande Mataram.
The House is scheduled to meet again on Saturday.