New Delhi, Dec 7 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will initiate the debate on the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram in Lok Sabha on Monday, while Home Minister Amit Shah will begin the discussion in Rajya Sabha on December 9.
Lok Sabha has listed ‘Discussion on the 150th anniversary of national song Vande Mataram’ on Monday and allocated 10 hours for the debate.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will speak after the prime minister in Lok Sabha, while opposition Congress has decided to field Deputy leader Gaurav Gogoi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in the discussion.
The government was keen on having a debate on Vande Mataram, composed in Sanskrit by Bankimchandra Chatterjee, that was a source of inspiration during the freedom struggle.
Prime Minister Modi had hit out at the Congress, accusing it of removing key stanzas from the song in 1937 and sowing the seeds of partition.
On November 7, Modi launched year-long celebrations to commemorate the 150th year of Vande Mataram aimed especially at youth and students to deepen awareness of the song’s significance.
On Tuesday, Shah is scheduled to initiate the debate on Vande Mataram in Rajya Sabha and Health Minister J P Nadda will be the second speaker.
Lok Sabha will take up the debate on election reforms, which will cover all aspects of the contentious subject, including the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls, on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Rajya Sabha will take up the debate on election reforms on Wednesday and Thursday.
The proceedings of the first two days of the Winter session that started on December 1 were disrupted due to the opposition’s protests on the SIR leading to repeated adjournments.
The Monsoon session of Parliament was a virtual washout over the demand by the opposition for a debate on the SIR, then being held in Bihar. PTI ACB/SKU DV DV
