Parliament gears up for debate on 'Vande Mataram' and electoral reforms this week

New Delhi: Ruling BJP and the Opposition led by Congress are all set to lock horns this week in Parliament as MPs cutting across party lines will be speaking on special debates on national song 'Vande Mataram' and electoral reforms.

Top guns Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Leaders of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi and prominent leaders like Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Akhilesh Yadav and Kanimozhi among others are all set to speak at least one of the debates.

The 'Discussion on the 150th Anniversary of National Song Vande Mataram' will start in Lok Sabha on Monday noon with the Prime Minister initiating the debate, which will also see Congress fielding its Deputy Leader Gaurav Gogoi and senior MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

The 'Vande Mataram' debate in Rajya Sabha will be on Tuesday with Shah starting the proceedings while Lok Sabha will begin the discussion on electoral reforms.

Sources said a BJP MP will be the last speaker on the debate on Vande Mataram while Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal will reply to the debate on electoral reforms in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The electoral reforms debate is likely to conclude in Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

While the BJP is likely to field senior leaders like Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in either of the debates, Congress sources said they will be fielding Deepender Hooda, A Bimol Akoijam, Praniti Shinde, Prashant Padole, Chamala Reddy and Jyotsana Mahant for the Vande Mataram debate.

Contentious views on ‘Vande Mataram’ and electoral reforms are likely to lead to heated arguments in the House. The Opposition is all set to raise the issue of ‘vote chori’ (vote theft) and the Election Commission will face intense scrutiny over the conduct of elections.

Modi himself had set the stage for a confrontation by accusing the Congress of not using ‘Vande Mataram’ in full as national song to appease a section while the latter has alleged that he was distorting facts citing a letter by Rabindranath Tagore who said only the first two stanzas need to be added as the following ones may have communal overtones.

Vande Mataram, which was composed in Sanskrit by Bankimchandra Chatterji and included in his novel Anandamath and later became a rallying cry during India's freedom movement, has the same status as national anthem ‘Jana Gana Mana’.

Similarly, all eyes will be on Rahul’s speech on electoral reforms, as he has launched a campaign against ‘vote chori’. He has accused the EC of aiding the BJP in winning the Haryana and Lok Sabha elections through manipulation of electoral rolls.

The electoral reforms debate will also see the Opposition MPs raising the issue of the SIR and deaths of Booth Level Officers involved in the exercise. The BJP side may highlight the need for ‘One Nation, One Election’.

The debates were listed after intense negotiations between the ruling BJP and the Opposition after the latter insisted on a debate on the contentious Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral reforms.

However, a compromise was reached after there was agreement over holding a discussion on Vande Mataram and enlarging the scope of discussion to electoral reforms by not restricting it to a debate on SIR. The first two days of Winter Session saw intense Opposition protest over their demand.

The discussion on Vande Mataram comes after a meeting of the Union Cabinet on October 1 cleared a nationwide celebration to commemorate 150 years of Vande Mataram, recognising its historic role in India's freedom struggle.