Unnao (UP), Aug 23 (PTI): Uttar Pradesh Assembly Speaker Satish Mahana has found himself at the centre of a controversy after he was seen walking away while the national anthem was played at an event here, drawing flak from the opposition.
Mahana, however, claimed that the anthem was not played where he was given the guard of honour.
A purported video of the incident shows the assembly speaker staying still for a few seconds, then turning around and stepping down from the saluting dais while the anthem was played at the principals’ council event held on Saturday.
Some supporters standing nearby then approached him and were seen touching his feet. The national anthem continued to play as Mahana proceeded towards his vehicle and left the venue.
The incident comes even as the BJP has been targeting the Congress for its decision to sing only two stanzas of ‘Vande Mataram’ at their party programmes, terming it an “insult” to the national song.
Mahana, who represents the Maharajpur assembly constituency in Kanpur, attended the council’s provincial convention and seminar at SVM Inter College in Puran Nagar in Unnao.
As part of the protocol, police gave Mahana a guard of honour at the venue.
Soon after the guard of honour ended, the national anthem began to play, and in the purported video of the sequence of events, he can be seen approaching his car to leave the premises.
Congress’s social media department head Supriya Shrinate said in a post in Hindi on X, “You informers of the British, spread lies about ‘Vande Mataram’ later. First, explain this: why did your stalwart leader and UP Assembly Speaker Satish Mahana walk away right in the middle of the national anthem? Couldn’t he wait for just 52 seconds?”
She added that the “insult” to ‘Jana Gana Mana’ will not be tolerated and demanded an apology.
Unnao Congress Committee leader Dinesh Shukla asked if the assembly speaker accepting the guard of honour as per protocol, but leaving the spot while the national anthem was played amounted to an insult to the anthem.
Speaking to PTI Videos, state Congress leader C P Rai challenged the RSS and Hindu Mahasabha to produce even one video from the freedom struggle showing them singing the national anthem or national song.
He alleged that when BJP leaders are asked on television to sing the national song, they often avoid the question and start making political remarks against the Congress.
Referring to the Unnao incident, Rai said Mahana is a senior legislator, the assembly speaker and holds an important organisational position. The action was “disrespectful”, he said, further claiming that the BJP raises nationalism-related issues mainly for political purposes and to divert public attention from important issues facing the country.
Samajwadi Party (SP) spokesperson Anurag Bhadauria said, “Now what will the BJP, which gives a certificate to everyone, say about him?”
Speaking to PTI Videos, another spokesperson of the SP, Manoj Yadav, said that Mahana took the salute, turned around and walked away in a “left-right” (parade) manner.
It appeared that Mahana was neither paying attention to the national anthem nor to the situation around him, he said, further accusing the BJP of adopting double standards on nationalism.
Yadav said the BJP frequently targets other political parties on issues related to nationalism but should also look at the conduct of its own leaders.
“The incident showed that the BJP has different standards,” he said and accused the party of raising such issues only to mislead the public.
Yadav said the conduct of a person holding such a high constitutional position was a “serious matter”.
When asked about the viral video, Mahana told PTI: “The place where I was given the guard of honour, the national anthem was not played there. Also, when a guard of honour is given to any visiting dignitary, the national anthem is not played as per the law established.”
He said that the national anthem was played (at the venue), but he was not at the place where it was being played.
Questioning those who attack his “nationalistic credentials”, Mahana said, “Does everyone stop and stand in an attention pose, while passing through a programme venue, where the national anthem is played?”
Later, in a post on X in Hindi, Mahana said, “Yesterday in Unnao, when the guard of honour was being given, coincidentally, at the same moment, the national anthem began inside the auditorium, where I was not present. These two events were completely separate. However, some videos are being shared on social media, and a misleading analysis is being done, as if we did not stop during the national anthem. I want to make it completely clear that nothing like this happened at all.”
He then appealed to mediapersons that the matter be discussed only after verifying the authenticity of facts.
BJP spokesperson Harish Chandra Srivastava rejected the opposition’s allegations and said the incident was being unnecessarily “blown out of proportion”.
He told PTI Videos that such mistakes can sometimes happen and Mahana may simply not have noticed or paid attention to the national anthem at that moment.
“Sometimes, such mistakes happen. He may not have noticed it. Those who are giving it undue importance are doing so unnecessarily. There is no meaning to it,” Srivastava said.
He claimed that the incident may have been a lapse rather than a deliberate act.
The programme in Unnao lasted for around 40 minutes.
During his address at the event, Mahana urged principals and educationists to discharge their responsibilities honestly, saying educational institutions were the foundation of the country’s development and that a strong education system would lead to a stronger nation.
Amid the row over ‘Vande Mataram’, the BJP on Saturday passed a resolution on the national song, days after the Congress Working Committee (CWC) reaffirmed its 1937 decision to sing only the first two stanzas of the song at party programmes.
The saffron party said it will not accept any compromise on the honour of the national song for “political convenience” or “appeasement” and asserted that no party or individual was bigger than Parliament.
Parliament passed the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which extends the same legal protection to ‘Vande Mataram’ that is afforded to the national anthem. The Bill makes it an offence to intentionally prevent the singing of the national song or to cause a disturbance to an assembly engaged in its singing.
