Vande Mataram row: BJP asks Speaker to initiate action against MLA, Congress says his action doesn’t reflect party stand

A day after Congress MLA Imran Khedawala courted controversy by not standing through the complete rendition of Vande Mataram in the Gujarat Assembly, the ruling BJP on Thursday raised a point of order seeking action against him for his alleged act of insulting the national song.

The party also wanted the matter to be referred to the Privilege or Ethics committee. The Congress distanced itself from Khedawala’s act saying that it did not reflect the party's stand, and that the MLA would be asked to explain his action.

Speaker Shankar Chaudhary accepted the Point of Order, calling it a “serious matter”, and added that he will pass a detailed order on it. On Wednesday, the first day of the Assembly’s monsoon session, Khedawala sat down after completion of the second stanza of Vande Mataram.

The BJP took strong objection to it even as Khedawala defended his action saying that it was his personal decision. A delegation of BJP leaders then met the Speaker to discuss the issue. On Thursday, Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi raised a point of order on the issue seeking action against Khedawala as per the Assembly rules.

Calling the issue very serious, Sanghavi suggested referring the matter to the Assembly’s Privilege Committee or Ethics Committee. Sanghavi also alleged that the Congress used Khedawala as a pawn to insult Vande Mataram.

“A day before the Assembly session, a meeting of the party’s core committee gets convened and, in that meeting, Imranbhai is made a pawn and, through him, Vande Mataram is insulted… Such scenes were never seen in Gujarat Assembly.” Seeking action against Khedawala, Sanghavi said that an example should be set to send a message that the Gujarat Assembly functioned as per rules.

Sanghavi also said that the Government of India’s circular stated that the Speaker can take action against an undisciplined member of the House. In his reply on the Point of Order, senior Congress MLA and Gujarat Congress President Amit Chavda said Khedawala's action was not his party’s stand.

Chavda said all other MLAs of the party present in the House, including Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader Tushar Chaudhary, stood through the entire rendition of Vande Mataram. He added that an explanation would be asked from Khedawala on the issue.

“MLA Imran Khedawala stood with respect for two stanzas [of the national song]. For years, the tradition was for two stanzas. If there was a misunderstanding…we will seek an explanation from him (Khedawala),” Chavda said.

He refuted Sanghavi’s allegation of the Congress’s conspiracy to insult Vande Mataram and said, “…a day before the Assembly session, there was no meeting of our party. There was no such discussion. There was no such stand of the party, else it would not have happened that all our members, including our leader, participated (in the rendition of the song) with full respect.” Chavda also said that the Congress had always given respect to the national song and added that it was first sung by the party at its first convention held in Kolkata in 1896.

He said that the Constituent Assembly and, even pioneer leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Babasaheb Ambedkar and Subhash Chandra Bose, had accepted the rendition of two stanzas of the song. “…what has happened should not happen.

It should not be repeated by anyone. You issue a notice to the member (Khedawala), he appears before you and gets an opportunity to explain. Then action be taken, it is my request," Chavda said. Other members of the ruling party, such as Rushikesh Patel, Arjun Modhwadia and Jagdish Panchal, also spoke in support of the point of order raised by Sanghavi.

From the Congress, its members Shailesh Parmar and Jignesh Mevani, too, spoke on the issue while suggesting that it was not Congress’s decision not to stand through the entire rendition of Vande Mataram. Mevani expressed regret for what happened in the House.

Parmar condemned Khedawala’s act and added that it could be the latter’s personal decision and not of the party. Khedawala was absent from the House on Thursday. After the discussion on the Point of Order, the speaker reserved his order on the same.