Gandhinagar: The issue of Congress MLA Imran Khedawala not standing through the entire rendition of Vande Mataram song rocked the assembly on Thursday, with ruling BJP seeking action against the Congress MLA for “disrespecting” the national song.A defensive Congress, terming Khedawala’s stance “unfortunate”, said not standing through the entire rendition of the song was not the party’s stand and that “misunderstanding or ignorance” could be the reasons why Khedawala did not stand throughout the rendition.Speaker Shankar Chaudhary has reserved the ruling on the matter.Raising a point of order soon after Question Hour, deputy chief minister Harsh Sanghavi said, “This is an unprecedented occurrence in the Vidhan Sabha, which is the highest democratic institution in the state. This is not just about personal behaviour of an MLA. He was just a pawn. We all have witnessed opposition to Vande Mataram in Delhi a few days ago by the national leadership of the Congress party.”Sanghavi alleged that a core committee meeting of the state Congress legislature party was called a day before the assembly session, where it was decided that Khedawala would oppose the full rendition of the national song. “This event will set a bad precedent and could lead to other events, and action must be taken against the MLA according to assembly rules and legal provisions,” the deputy CM said.Other ruling party MLAs, including state party president Jagdish Vishwakarma, Rushikesh Patel and Arjun Modhwadia, also spoke on the point of order, demanding stringent action against Khedawala. “This constitutes an offence that can attract imprisonment of three years,” commented Modhwadia.State Congress president and MLA Amit Chavda rubbished Sanghavi’s claim that the party had decided to ask Khedawala to oppose the full rendition of the national song. “What happened is unfortunate. It could be misunderstanding or ignorance on Khedawala’s part.” Attacking the BJP, he said, “The Congress has been singing the Vande Mataram song since 1896. But the ideology that you (BJP) belong to did not sing the Vande Mataram song for 110 years since 1896,” he said.Speaking during the hour-long discussion on the point of order, Congress MLA Jignesh Mevani said Congress workers took bullets in their chests and lathis on their backs while chanting Vande Mataram. “There is no such record of the RSS. For 52 years, the tricolour was not unfurled and Jana Gana Mana was not sung by the RSS,” he said.While requesting the Speaker to “pardon Khedawala’s mistake”, Congress MLA Shailesh Parmar added that the BJP did not have the right to give a certificate on patriotism. “This is the second time that the full version of the national song was sung at the Gujarat assembly. All MLAs of Congress stood through the entire rendition of the song, barring this one instance. It can be his personal opinion. It is not the stand of the party,” Parmar said.
