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NEW DELHI: BJP on Saturday condemned the Congress decision to sing only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram at party programmes, saying the move undermines the national song’s legacy and significance.The party passed a 10-point resolution asserting that it would protect the honour, national character and prestige associated with the complete version of Vande Mataram.“No compromise on honour, legacy of Vande Mataram will be accepted for political convenience or appeasement,” the resolution read.It further “resolved to strongly condemn and unequivocally oppose the Congress Working Committee’s decision of 19th August 2026 to reaffirm its 1937 resolution and restrict Vande Mataram to its first two stanzas at Congress programmes.”Further labwling it as “anti-imperialist cry”, the BJP further resolved “to recall and disseminate Mahatma Gandhi’s own testimony that Vande Mataram had become an “anti-imperialist cry” and that he associated it with “the purest national spirit”, demonstrating its larger national meaning beyond the literary or religious context of particular stanzas.”The BJP also said it would launch a nationwide campaign to highlight the history, meaning and significance of the national song and counter what it described as attempts to diminish its importance.After the resolution were passed, BJP leader Sambit Patra held a press congress slamming Congress and highlighting significance of the national song. “This is the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram. On August 15, 2026, the complete Vande Mataram, which has six stanzas, was sung from the Red Fort. But on August 15, an indecent act took place at the Congress office. In the presence of Congress MP Sonia Gandhi and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, when the Tricolour was being hoisted, Sonia Gandhi signalled to stop Vande Mataram after two stanzas.
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On August 19, a proposal came in at the CWC meeting stating that we will sing only two stanzas of Vande Mataram. We all know why this decision was taken in 1937.”Earlier, Union home minister Amit Shah had also attacked the Congress Working Committee’s resolution, calling the decision “anti-national” and accusing the party of reviving what he described as its decades-old “politics of appeasement”.
