New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh Assembly Speaker Satish Mahana is facing criticism after a video appeared to show him leaving an event in Unnao while the national anthem was being played.Mahana was attending a provincial convention and seminar organised by the principals’ council at SVM Inter College in Puran Nagar on Saturday (August 22), the New Indian Express reported. After receiving a guard of honour from the police, a video purportedly from the event shows Mahana remaining still briefly before leaving the dais and walking towards his vehicle as the anthem continued.उन्नाव में एक कार्यक्रम के दौरान राष्ट्रगान बज रहा था, लेकिन सतीश महाना चल दिए.सतीश महाना BJP विधायक हैं और यूपी विधानसभा के स्पीकर हैं.सवाल है- अब कितने चैनल इस अपमान पर डिबेट करेंगे? pic.twitter.com/bmp2tdhPoz— Govind Pratap Singh | GPS (@govindprataps12) August 22, 2026Some people near the venue then approached Mahana and touched his feet. He continued towards his vehicle and left while the anthem was being played.The controversy has emerged at a time when the Bharatiya Janata Party government has been accused of attempting to downgrade the status of the national anthem. The saffron party has advocated for singing all the stanzas of the national song before the national anthem is played at official functions. The Union home ministry has also issued guidelines to this end in February this year.Also read: The Vande Mataram Charade: How BJP Weaponises History While India BurnsOpposition reactionCongress’s social media department head Supriya Shrinate criticised Mahana in a post on X and asked why he had left before the anthem ended. “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?”Unnao Congress Committee leader Dinesh Shukla questioned whether leaving the location while the national anthem was being played amounted to an insult to the anthem. Samajwadi Party spokesperson Anurag Bhadauria also criticised Mahana, asking what the BJP would say about the incident.Mahana’s responseSpeaking to PTI, Mahana said the national anthem was not played at the location where he had received the guard of honour. He also said that, under the applicable law, the national anthem is not played when a visiting dignitary is being given a guard of honour.“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.“Does everyone stop and stand in an attention pose, while passing through a programme venue, where the national anthem is played?” he asked.BackgroundThe incident comes amid a political dispute over Vande Mataram. The BJP has criticised the Congress for continuing its practice of singing only the first two stanzas of the national song at party programmes after The Congress Working Committee recently reaffirmed its 1937 decision on the matter.The BJP on Saturday passed a resolution on Vande Mataram, saying it would not accept what it described as a compromise on the honour of the national song for political convenience or appeasement. It also said no political party or individual was above Parliament.Parliament has passed the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026. The legislation extends to Vande Mataram the legal protection provided to the national anthem and makes it an offence to intentionally prevent the singing of the national song or disrupt an assembly during its singing.