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NEW DELHI: A political row erupted on Saturday over the rendition of the full version of Vande Mataram at the Congress’s Independence Day event, with the BJP accusing grand old party’s former chief Sonia Gandhi of objecting to the national song and the opposition party rejecting the allegation.The BJP shared video footage from the Congress’s event at Indira Bhawan and alleged that Sonia questioned party workers while Vande Mataram was being played. Congress, however, said there was no attempt to stop the full rendition and that Sonia was merely asking for a chair for party president Mallikarjun Kharge, who had been standing for some time.BJP spokesperson Gopal Krishna Agarwal, sharing the footage on X, accused the Congress of showing disrespect towards the national song. “The scene that has come to light today on Independence Day is utterly shameful.”He said, “Sonia Gandhi’s objection during the rendition of India’s national song, ‘Vande Mataram’, and her questioning of Congress workers as to why it was being played exposes the Congress party’s mindset.”Agarwal said Vande Mataram represented more than a patriotic song, calling it a symbol of India’s freedom struggle and national consciousness.“Is this the same Congress that lays claim to the legacy of the nation’s freedom struggle?” he asked.He also alleged that the Congress’s alleged approach towards the national song reflected the party’s “Emergency mindset”.“The people of the country have rejected this mindset and will continue to reject it,” he said.
Congress rejects BJP’s allegation
The Congress dismissed the BJP’s claim and maintained that the full version of Vande Mataram was sung at its Independence Day programme.Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh cited the party’s historical association with the song and referred to a 1937 meeting of the Congress Working Committee in Calcutta, attended by several prominent leaders of the freedom movement.“On October 28, 1937, in Calcutta, a meeting of the Congress Working Committee was held in the presence of Mahatma Gandhi, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Jawaharlal Nehru, Govind Ballabh Pant and C Rajagopalachari, and on the advice of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, they decided that the initial stanzas of Vande Mataram would be sung at the Congress sessions,” Ramesh said.Ramesh said Tagore had advised Nehru and Bose that the opening portions of the song should be used at Congress gatherings.“Tagore gave the advice to Nehru and Bose that the first few paragraphs of Vande Mataram should be used, he said.“We have been singing those lines in every session since them, our Seva Dal sings it, our workers sing it, there is no controversy over that,” Ramesh said.”He stressed that the complete version was sung at Saturday’s event and said the issue had already been debated extensively in Parliament.“This was discussed in Parliament for 16 hours. We put forward our views. I narrated the whole history around it which the prime minister and the home minister did not know. I informed MPs of the context in which the Vande Mataram decision was taken,” Ramesh said.
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“But today, at Indira Bhawan, the full version was sung, there is no question of a controversy over it,” he added.Asked specifically about the BJP’s allegation that Sonia had tried to stop the full rendition, Ramesh offered a different explanation for what was seen in the video.“As the Congress president was standing for a long time, Soniaji was asking for a chair for him,” he said.
BJP escalates attack
BJP spokesperson R P Singh also targeted Sonia over the controversy, questioning her alleged opposition to the national song.“Why does Antonio Maino Ji hate Vande Mataram so much? When Vande Mataram was being sung, Antonio Maino Ji reportedly became so angry that she allegedly got agitated and asked her party workers to stop it. Why such hatred for Vande Mataram?”The row over Vande Mataram comes shortly after Parliament passed legislation dealing with disrespect towards the national song. The Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026, was passed by the Lok Sabha through a voice vote on July 30, a day after the Rajya Sabha cleared it.The legislation grants Vande Mataram a status on par with the national anthem, Jana Gana Mana.
