Start-of-month Vande Mataram ritual resumes at Madhya Pradesh secretariat; 'new rendition' has a marching police band

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Friday led his cabinet colleagues, senior officials and people in a rendition of Vande Mataram at the state secretariat, popularly called Mantralaya. Singing the national song at the secretariat on the first day of every month was a tradition started by the previous BJP regime under chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. [caption id=“attachment_5727991” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Kamal Nath. Reuters[/caption] Its discontinuation on 1 January had led to a war of words between the opposition BJP and the ruling Congress. Chouhan had event taunted the state government saying he could lead them in rendering the song in case Congress leaders did not know the lyrics. Going the extra mile on Friday, the MP CM led a one kilometre road procession from Shourya Smarak war memorial to Mantralaya where people sung Vande Mataram in the secretariat’s park. A police band struck up patriotic songs as well at the venue. Hitting out at the BJP, Nath said, “We have begun the singing of Vande Mataram in a new form. However, when we announced it, the BJP tried to preach patriotism to us. Not a single member of the saffron family had taken part in the freedom struggle. Now they are giving us lessons on patriotism.” “Patriotism runs in our blood. We don’t need anyone’s certificate on it,” he added.