Bhubaneswar: Former Odisha minister and BJD veteran Damodar Rout on Friday raised the issue of national song Jana Gana Mana Adhinayak while countering party colleague and minister Sushant Singh on is opposition to the use of the word Utkal in the sing Bande Utkal Janani.

"The song ( Jana Gana Mana Adhinayak) was meant to welcome the British King George V. But it was accepted as National song as it reflected the spirit of the country. I don't know whether the minister (Sushant Singh) has any idea about it."

Joining issue, BJD's Cuttack MP Bhartruhari Mahatab said: "We are already united culturally. The controversy should end immediately." Understanding the sensitive nature of the issue raised by Singh, BJD vice-president Prasanna Acharya, who hails from western Odisha, was more cautious in his comments.

"Rout is like my elder brother and in the same way Singh is my younger brother. I don't want to comment on anybody," Acharya said.

However, Union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan was critical of the minister as well as the state government.

"There is an attempt to create a controversy on every issue. The latest is whether it should be Odisha or Utkal," Pradhan said.

Members of Sambalpuri Bhasa Sanskruti Parishad, a leading cultural body of Sambalpur district in Odisha, led by its president, Narendra Panigrahi on Friday handed over a memorandum to the district administration demanding that Bande Utkal Janani did not reflect the sentiments of the whole state.

"It is against pride and dignity of the people of western Odisha," said the memorandum addressed to governor Ganeshi Lal.