A scuffle broke out in a meeting of the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation in Maharashtra on Saturday after two corporators of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen refused to stand up when “Vande Mataram” was played, reported PTI. Corporators of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena rushed into the well of the house and chanted slogans against the AIMIM members.

AMC Mayor Bapu Ghadamode subsequently suspended the two AIMIM corporators for a day, and adjourned the proceedings for an hour. When the house reassembled, the commotion continued, leading to another adjournment. While no one was injured in the scuffle, a few microphones were broken.

“The general body meeting started with Vande Mataram, but two AIMIM members did not stand up when the song was being played,” the mayor said. “The Sena and BJP members demanded their suspension. I suspended them and asked them to leave the House. Instead, they attempted to rush to the Well and were stopped by the members of the ruling alliance. The AIMIM members also attacked those who demanded their suspension,” he claimed.

AIMIM MLA Imtiyaz Jaleel said one of the corporators did not stand up when the national song was being played. “We have 25 corporators in the AMC and 24 of them stood up when the song was played,” he said. For the last two-and-a-half years, our corporators have always stood up whenever the national song was played at general body meetings.”

He claimed that the corporator who did not stand up did so in protest against the mayor’s refusal to allow a request to be submitted. Jaleel said that the recitation of Vande Mataram is not mandatory in the municipal corporation.