Speaker not joins national anthem singing

Bhopal, July 26: Madhya Pradesh Assembly Speaker Ishwar Das Rohani today did not join the traditional singing of national anthem at the conclusion of the monsoon session.

Immediately after declaring the House adjourned sine die, two days ahead of schedule following a standoff between the Speaker and the opposition Congress, Mr Rohani left the hall abruptly.

Later Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and other ruling BJP and opposition members sang the national anthem with no one in the chair.

It is the tradition of the House to sing 'Vande Mataram' at the beginning of every session and to sing the national anthem at the end of the session.

In the last two days, the House witnessed uproarious scenes with the Congress members raising slogans after the Speaker prevented them to raise an issue relating to a two-year old petition seeking disqualification of Rashtriya Samanata Dal member Harivallabh Shukla for contesting the last Lok Sabha election on a BJP ticket.

Following the stand off, the House was adjourned in about one hour for the last two days with the Speaker rushing through the business without debate.

As many as nine Bills, including the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Amendment Bill, 2006 for regulating conversion, were passed without any discussion.

UNI