Kerala Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar on Friday expressed displeasure over 'Vande Mataram' not being sung in full in the state Legislative Assembly during the policy address of the United Democratic Front (UDF) government. Speaking to reporters at Lok Bhavan after returning from the Assembly, the Governor said proper protocol should be followed whenever the Governor is present at official functions.
Before and after Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar's policy address in the Kerala Assembly, a band team performed the opening stanzas of Vande Mataram.
Vande Mataram should be sung in full
The Governor said it had been insisted that Vande Mataram should be sung in full whenever the Governor is present in the House.
He said that in the Assembly, the song was only played and not sung. "Whenever the Governor is present, it has to be sung fully. It was not sung; it was only played," he said.
Arlekar added that he has already spoken to the Assembly Speaker, Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, on the matter and expects the issue to be addressed. "Let us see how things develop," he said.
BJP calls partial 'Vande Mataram' rendition 'insult' to Governor
Earlier, it was alleged by the BJP that the national song Vande Mataram was not sung in full in the Assembly when the Governor attended the policy address on Friday, with claims that this amounted to an "insult" to Lok Bhavan.
Senior party leader and Kazhakkoottam MLA V Muraleedharan said that, at events attended by the Governor, there is a central government directive that the national song Vande Mataram should be sung in full, but this was not followed in the Kerala Assembly.
"This is an insult to Lok Bhavan and the Honourable Governor. The national song, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary, has also been disrespected," the former Union minister said in a Facebook post.
He alleged that the UDF government headed by V D Satheesan did this while "yielding to Jamaat-e-Islami and the CPI(M)".
"Through this, it is evident that the government is accepting their argument that the national song is not in line with secularism," the BJP leader said.
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