Shimla, Aug. 26 -- The fifth day of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly Monsoon Session on Wednesday witnessed another confrontation between the ruling Congress and Opposition BJP over the National Anthem and Vande Mataram controversy, with leaders of both sides accusing each other of politicising national symbols and diverting attention from substantive issues.

The controversy has dominated the opening days of the Monsoon Session, with Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu accusing Opposition members of disrespecting the National Anthem, while the BJP alleged that the Congress government had disrespected the National Song by not having Vande Mataram sung along with the National Anthem.

The BJP had demanded that the video footage of the proce...