Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], August 26 (ANI): Leader of Opposition and former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Wednesday said the BJP would move a privilege motion against Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu over his alleged statement that BJP legislators had disrespected the National Anthem during the ongoing Monsoon Session of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly.
Speaking to mediapersons on the fifth day of the Assembly's Monsoon Session, Thakur said the BJP had also decided to legally examine whether the Chief Minister's remarks amounted to criminal defamation and, if so, approach the Himachal Pradesh High Court.
Thakur said the controversy began after Sukhu had indicated before the commencement of the session that Vande Mataram would not be sung in the House. He said that when the proceedings began, the National Anthem was played following an announcement by Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania, and all 68 MLAs stood at their respective places and participated respectfully.
According to Thakur, after the National Anthem was sung, members of the Opposition requested that Vande Mataram also be sung in the House.
"There was nothing wrong in making such a request. If Vande Mataram and the National Anthem can be sung on Independence Day, the same practice could have been adopted in the Assembly as well. In several legislatures across the country, Vande Mataram is being sung before the National Anthem," Thakur said.
He alleged that the Congress government and the Chief Minister deliberately avoided singing Vande Mataram in the Assembly despite the practice being followed elsewhere, including during the Independence Day programme in Himachal Pradesh.
Thakur said the subsequent allegation that BJP legislators had disrespected the National Anthem was a serious matter.
"If anyone in the Opposition had actually disrespected the National Anthem, action should be taken against them. We ourselves said that the video recording of the proceedings should be examined. The best evidence was the CCTV/video recording of the proceedings," he said.
He said the BJP repeatedly demanded that the recording be shown on the Assembly's display screens or provided to the legislators. According to him, the video clip was eventually provided after four days.
"I have watched the entire video more than ten times. The media colleagues must also have seen it. The National Anthem was sung with full respect. All Opposition MLAs remained standing at their respective places. There was no disturbance, no shouting and no movement that could be described as disrespectful," Thakur claimed.
He said the Congress had meanwhile staged demonstrations at district headquarters across Himachal Pradesh accusing the BJP of disrespecting the National Anthem.
"Such a serious allegation was made against us, and naturally it was a matter of concern. We went to the Speaker's chamber and also staged a protest demanding that the evidence be made public," he said.
Thakur said that after examining the video, the BJP legislature party concluded that the Chief Minister had made an allegation before all the members of the House and, by extension, before the people of Himachal Pradesh.
"The Chief Minister made this statement before the 68 MLAs, who are representatives of around 75 lakh people. Therefore, he made this allegation before the entire state. Congress workers subsequently staged protests across the districts on the same issue," he said.
He said the BJP had now submitted a privilege motion against the Chief Minister to the Speaker and expected a decision in accordance with the rules.
"We hope the Speaker will act according to the rules and will not come under any pressure or influence," Thakur said.
He added that the BJP would also examine the matter from a legal perspective. "We will legally examine whether this amounts to defamation. If a case is made out, after taking legal advice, we can also approach the High Court," he said.
Thakur said the BJP would drop the matter if the Chief Minister admitted that the allegation was made inadvertently and apologised.
"We have said even today inside the Assembly and outside that if the Chief Minister accepts his mistake and apologises, we can end the matter here. But he should accept it and apologise to the House and the people of Himachal Pradesh," he said.
He criticised the Chief Minister for allegedly continuing to repeat the allegation instead of acknowledging the issue, saying that no one, including the Chief Minister, was above the law.
Thakur also raised allegations concerning the government's outsourcing policy and recruitment through private agencies.
He alleged that several people associated with the Congress party were being favoured in the award of outsourcing contracts and that newly registered agencies linked to Congress functionaries had received government work.
"Across Himachal Pradesh, agencies were registered overnight and, after being empanelled by the government, were given work. While the Government of India agencies and one or two other agencies were given very limited work, the work was given to people associated with the Congress," he alleged.
Thakur said the issue was not merely about providing employment but also about whether merit and transparency were being followed in the recruitment and outsourcing process.
He alleged that Congress office-bearers and, in some cases, people associated with elected representatives were being given contracts.
"The issue is not simply about giving employment to unemployed people. The question is why the government first decided to remove the unemployment of its own party functionaries by giving them this work," he said.
He further alleged that there were concerns regarding merit, financial transactions and the manner in which agencies were being selected and empanelled.
Thakur claimed that the Himachal Pradesh High Court had taken cognisance of aspects of the outsourcing process, including the criteria used for empanelling agencies and the grounds on which applications were rejected.
"The criteria for empanelment and the basis on which agencies were rejected need to be examined. There is no convincing logic in the process. This is a very big scam and irregularity, and there will certainly be an investigation in the coming time," he alleged.
Reacting to the argument made by a Cabinet minister regarding the video recording and cameras inside the Assembly, Thakur said the minister was offering a "fallacious argument" rather than a logical explanation.
"The minister is not giving an argument; he is giving a counter-argument. If there had been a proper argument, it would have been better. But both the Chief Minister and the minister are avoiding the actual issue," he said.
Thakur also rejected attempts to link the National Anthem controversy to caste or community identity.
Cabinet Minister Jagat Singh Negi had alleged that members of the Opposition were targeting him because he belongs to the SC/ST community and had also criticised the BJP's ideology as harmful to the country.
Thakur said the issue had nothing to do with any particular community.
"This is not a matter of any particular community. The issue is the National Anthem and the national song, and these matters are above such considerations. There is no need to unnecessarily bring a community into this issue," he said.
Thakur reiterated that the BJP was not seeking to create a confrontation over the national song but was questioning why Vande Mataram was being avoided in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly.
"We are not trying to create any difference on the National Anthem or the national song. This is a practice being followed across the country. Himachal Pradesh is also a part of India," he said.
He pointed out that Vande Mataram and the National Anthem were both observed during the Independence Day programme in Himachal Pradesh on August 15.
"If it could be done on August 15 in Himachal Pradesh, why was it stopped in the Assembly afterwards? That is the question. The government has to answer why Vande Mataram cannot be sung in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly," Thakur said.
He said the BJP would continue to pursue the matter through constitutional, legislative and legal avenues. (ANI)
Jai Ram Thakur says BJP will move privilege motion against CM Sukhu, may approach HC over National Anthem row
