Expressing disappointment, Chouhan said that it was unfortunate of Congress to put an end to the tradition. (File photo)A day after the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh announced that it was not compulsory to sing ‘Vande Matram’ in the secretariat on the first day of every month, former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan Wednesday said that all BJP MLAs will sing the national song on January 7.
Chouhan told news agency ANI, “Vande Matram is a mantra that instils sense of patriotism and so the BJP government had decided to start weekly cabinet meetings with it and it will be sung on the 1st day of every month.”
However, the recently elected Congress government in the state asserted that singing ‘Vande Matram’ for a day was not a barometer of patriotism.
Expressing disappointment, Chouhan said that it was unfortunate that the Congress decided to put an end to the tradition. He further said, “I demand Congress to reintroduce this and if they don’t do it, I’ll sing Vande Matram with patriots at Vallabh Bhavan in the premises on January 6.”
Madhya Pradesh BJP spokesman Rajneesh Agrawal tweeted that the rendition of Vande Mataram is organised by the state general administration department (GAD), a portfolio held by Chief Minister Kamal Nath.
It was the first time since 2005, that government employees did not sing the national song at the secretariat on Tuesday.
