Castigating the Congress for misbehaving with Himachal Governor Bandaru Dattatraya, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Thursday said that the Congress MLAs showed disrespect to the national flag while banging on the bonnet of the Governor’s car on the first day of the ongoing budget session of State Assembly.

“The tricolour was affixed to the Governor’s car and the Congress legislators showed disrespect to it,” said Thakur while replying to the discussion on Governor’s address to the Assembly.

The Chief Minister said that Mukesh Agnihotri hit the bonnet of the Governor’s car when he was leaving for Raj Bhawan. “I am a witness when Agnihotri pushed the Governor’s ADC (aide-de-camp),” he said.

Leader of the opposition Mukesh Agnihotri and four other Congress MLAs - Harsh Vardhan Chauhan, Satpal Raizada, Sunder Singh and Vinay Kumar - were on Friday suspended for the entire budget session after they allegedly manhandled the Governor.

The Congress legislators did not attend the House proceedings on Thursday as well to press their demand for revoking suspension of the five party legislators who continued their dharna outside the House. The lone CPI (M) MLA, Rakesh Singha, was present in the House on Thursday.

Urging the Speaker Vipin Parmar to retrieve footage from the CCTV cameras installed in the House complex, Thakur said that the recording should be shown in the House itself and the Congress members should also be present in the House to witness what they had done.

The people of the state should also see what the opposition members had done, he said.

Lashing out at Mukesh Agnihotri, the Chief Minister said that the Leader of Opposition interrupted the Governor’s address and termed it “a bundle of lies” even before it was fully read.

“Devbhoomi Himachal” was ashamed over the act of the opposition members, he said.

The Congress is doing all this out of frustration of their continuous defeat in elections, be it Lok Sabha or panchayat polls, he added.

Continuing his tirade against the opposition, the Chief Minister said, “Had the Congress members apologised to the Governor on Friday itself, the circumstances would have been different.”

He said that the Congress has already delayed an apology but it should consider apologising even now for what its leaders had done on Friday.

A day before also, the Chief Minister had maintained that the Congress should apologize publicly for the mishandling of the Governor during the first day of the budget session.