Vande Mataram Row Disrupts Karnataka Assembly Proceedings

The Karnataka legislature’s special session opened on Monday amid uproar over the national song, Vande Mataram, after the official audio rendition in the assembly ended after two stanzas while BJP legislators continued to recite its full version.

The three-day special session was convened to discuss the severe drought in the state and the implications of the Kasturirangan report on the Western Ghats. The assembly proceedings began with Vande Mataram but the recording stopped after two stanzas. The BJP legislators objected by raising slogans and singing the complete version of the song.

A similar protest unfolded in the legislative council where BJP members recited the remaining stanzas while Chairman Saleem Ahmed began reading the Preamble to the Constitution as is customary at the start of proceedings. The members later raised slogans against the government over the decision to limit the rendition.

The confrontation followed a September 8 government order directing that only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram be played or sung at state government programmes and official ceremonies, except those attended by the President, Vice President, Prime Minister or Governor. The order, issued in the name of the Governor of Karnataka’s name, stated it was based on guidelines from the Union home ministry.

BJP MLA SR Vishwanath accused the Congress government of restricting the song to appease its central leadership.

“To please Sonia Gandhi, the Congress government in Karnataka, led by Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, brought it to the cabinet and said we will sing only two paragraphs, not the full song. To please the Congress high command, they have truncated Vande Mataram, which is equal to the national anthem. We strongly oppose this. Today, in Vidhana Soudha, if they truncate it, all BJP MLAs will sing the full Vande Mataram song, even if they try to stop us.”

The BJP legislators subsequently recited the complete song in the assembly.

Earlier in the day, R Ashoka said the BJP would sing the full Vande Mataram in the Karnataka assembly and outside it. He even challenged the state government to stop them if it had the authority to do so.

“Vande Mataram is in every cell of our blood. We will sing Vande Mataram in full at any cost. Let hundreds come, like Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, we will sing it inside and outside the House. If the government has the capacity, let it stop us,” he said.

The government order is also under challenge in the Karnataka high court. Advocate Girish Bharadwaj has filed a public interest litigation questioning the state government’s authority to prescribe that only two stanzas be sung at official functions.

The petition refers to a July 9 communication from the Union home ministry, stating that the official version of Vande Mataram should be recited whenever the National Song is sung at mass gatherings. It also argues that the subject does not fall under the State or Concurrent Lists of the Constitution and therefore comes under Parliament’s residuary legislative powers.

After the Vande Mataram episode, Speaker G S Patil allowed condolences to prominent figures. Chief Minister D K Shivakumar subsequently paid tribute to former MLA R B Shiriyannavar, who died on August 27.