Kerala Governor Rajendra Arlikar on Friday expressed displeasure over Vande Mataram not being sung in its entirety in the state assembly before his political speech, while Chief Minister V D Sathisan said the full recitation of the patriotic song was not mandatory.
The Kerala Police Band played only the first two verses of the song before and after the Governor read the UDF government’s policy speech in the Kerala Assembly, despite the Lok Bhavan’s directive that Vande Mataram be performed in full whenever the Governor was present.
Arlikar claimed that proper protocol should be followed when the governor attends such events. “I spoke with the president of the association. Let’s see how things develop,” he said.
CM Satheesan said there was no legal provision requiring the song to be presented in its entirety. He said, “Parliament has not enacted any law in this regard. If the governor has a complaint, I will discuss it with him.”
BJP MLA V Muraleedharan termed the move as an “insult to Lok Bhavan and the Governor”, and accused the UDF government of surrendering to parties like CPI(M) and Jamaat-e-Islami. Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Pinarayi Vijayan also supported the state government’s decision not to play or sing the patriotic song in its entirety, describing the demand for full rendition as an “RSS agenda”.
