BHOPAL, 7 June 2005 — The leader of the opposition in Madhya Pradesh Assembly, Ms, Jamuna Devi of Congress has lodged strong objections over the start of a new tradition of singing Vande Mataram prior to the Cabinet meeting in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ruled state.
Terming it as a political stunt, Ms. Devi said that instead of showing commitment toward Vande Mataram, the Madhya Pradesh government should be committed to erradicate the anguish of the poor in the state.
Criticizing this tradition, she said that currently girls are called to sing Vande Mataram before the start of a Cabinet meeting, but in future any crazy chief minister can turn this tradition into a cabaret. “The dignity of the Cabinet had been maintained till now. But Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Babulal Gaur is maligning it,” she remarked.
Earlier Gaur also lowered the dignity of the Cabinet by inviting Kaptan Singh Solanki. She added that Gaur’s directive to hand out food in homes of Dalits and to take night outs in villages are mere political stunts. In the name of encroachments, poor people are being displaced.
