PM to kick off Parl debate on Vande Mataram

The debate in Parliament is part of the year-long celebrations on the 150th anniversary of the national song -- written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and set to tune by Jadunath Bhattacharya. The discussion, which has been allocated eight hours, will begin in the Lower House with the PM’s address on Monday, and Union home minister Amit Shah will be the opening speaker in the Rajya Sabhaon Tuesday, a person aware of the details said.

“Many important and unknown facets related to Vande Mataram come out in front of the nation,” the person added.

From the Trinamool Congress, the ruling party in West Bengal, MPs Mahua Moitra and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar will be the speakers in the Lok Sabha, while Sukhendu S Roy and Ritabrata Banerjee will address the Rajya Sabha, a senior TMC leader said, requesting anonymity. To add more weight to the debate, the MPs are set to speak in Bengal, the leader added.