Keralam Health Minister returns to seat before full rendition of Vande Mataram ends; BJP demands apology

Referring to the incident, Muraleedharan said that he will not cooperate with any attempt to "hijack" a state government function and that is what he indicated through his actions.

Keralam Health Minister K Muraleedharan returned to his seat before the full rendition of Vande Mataram was completed at an official function in Kasaragod a day ago, prompting the BJP to demand an apology. Defending his action, the minister said he would not allow anyone to "hijack" a state government event.

The incident took place on Monday during the inauguration of a laboratory at the Mulleria Family Health Centre, a government facility, in this northern Keralam district.

Referring to the incident, Muraleedharan on Tuesday said that he will not cooperate with any attempt to "hijack" a state government function and that is what he indicated through his actions.

"I do not need anyone to teach me patriotism. I am the son of a freedom fighter," the minister, who is the son of late Congress stalwart and former Keralam Chief Minister K Karunakaran, said.

He further said that he and the government will cooperate with the protocol for central government events and the policy of local bodies regarding programmes conducted by them.

"If the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation is holding an event, it has its own policy on how to conduct it, and I will abide by that as it is their internal matter. But, if a state government programme is sought to be hijacked, it will not be accepted, and that is what I indicated a day ago," he told reporters.

The state government's policy is that only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram will be sung in its programmes.

.Kerala skips 'Vande Mataram' despite Centre's directive.

He further said that a prayer was supposed to be held as per the programme schedule; instead, the Vande Mataram was sung.

"The state government's protest was indicated there and then," he added.

Meanwhile, the BJP reportedly demanded an apology from the minister for sitting down during the singing of the Vande Mataram.

Visuals aired by news channels showed the district collector, Kasaragod MP Rajmohan Unnithan and MLA K Mahin, who were seated alongside the minister, also sitting down before the song ended.

However, MLA K Neelakandan and DCC president P K Faisal remained standing until the entire song was sung.

The minister and others reportedly attempted to sit down after the first two stanzas were sung.

However, the song continued, after which they took their seats.

Visuals of the event also showed the minister speaking to people seated near him while the song was being sung.

The incident comes amid a debate over the Centre's directive to sing Vande Mataram in its entirety at official functions.

The Congress has maintained that singing the first two stanzas is sufficient.

Muraleedharan had earlier said that the full version of Vande Mataram would not be sung in Keralam and that only the first two stanzas would be included in government functions.