Vande Mataram vs Jana Gana Mana: Row erupts at Kozhikode Corporation I-Day function

Kozhikode (Kerala): A row erupted at the Kozhikode Corporation office on Saturday during the Independence Day celebrations after BJP councillors began singing Vande Mataram while LDF and UDF councillors were reciting the national anthem, Jana Gana Mana.

The function was held under the leadership of Kozhikode Corporation Mayor O Sadasivan. Following the hoisting of the national flag, the 13 BJP councillors started reciting Vande Mataram as the LDF and UDF councillors began singing the national anthem, leading to a tense situation at the venue.

The BJP councillors continued singing Vande Mataram even after the LDF and UDF councillors left the venue after completing the national anthem.

In the Kozhikode Corporation, the CPI(M)-led LDF has 35 councillors, the Congress-led UDF has 28, and the BJP has 13.

BJP councillors told reporters that the Mayor and Deputy Mayor had belittled the national song Vande Mataram by their actions.

"Vande Mataram is constitutionally approved. We had told the Mayor that Vande Mataram should be sung. When we started singing Vande Mataram, they started singing the national anthem," the councillors said.

They said they had sung the full version of Vande Mataram and recited the national anthem before leaving the venue.

"We will move legally against the Mayor and Deputy Mayor who acted against the nation. Communist persons never approved Independence Day. Congress is opposing Vande Mataram fearing radical elements," they alleged.

Mayor O Sadasivan said the BJP councillors had not approached him seeking permission to sing Vande Mataram.

"Reciting Vande Mataram was not part of the agenda at all. They sang Vande Mataram in between without informing us," he said.

He said none of the other councillors present at the event had prevented the BJP councillors from singing Vande Mataram.

"The issue arises when someone prevents another person from singing Vande Mataram. We did not object to them," Sadasivan said.

Vande Mataram was not sung at the Independence Day function in Thiruvananthapuram, where Chief Minister V D Satheesan hoisted the national flag.

The BJP is organising events featuring recitals of Vande Mataram across Kerala on Independence Day as part of its 150th anniversary celebrations. PTI