Shimla, Aug. 22 -- The Former Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh and Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur staged a protest outside the Himachal Pradesh Assembly on Saturday, rejecting Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu's allegation that BJP legislators had disrespected the national anthem during the first day of the Monsoon Session and accusing the Congress government of deliberately delaying elections to key Panchayati Raj bodies in the state.

Thakur termed the Chief Minister's allegation of disrespecting the national anthem "completely false" and said all BJP MLAs had stood in the prescribed attention position when the anthem was played in the Assembly on Friday.

"Absolutely false, completely false. When the national anthem started ...