3 min learnNew DelhiAug 16, 2026 04:35 AM IST
The BJP on Saturday accused Congress chief Sonia Gandhi of objecting to the recitation of the total model of Vande Mataram on the Congress get together’s Independence Day occasion. Congress denied the allegation, asserting that Sonia Gandhi was asking for a chair for get together chief Mallikarjun Kharge, who had been standing for a while.
BJP nationwide normal secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh, sharing a video of the recitation on X, mentioned: “Mom, son and nationwide president appear to be upset by the rendering of the total Vande Mataram. Sure mindsets by no means change from pre-1947 to post-1947.”
Former Union minister and BJP MP Anurag Thakur mentioned Congress had as soon as once more demonstrated how uncomfortable its leaders have been with Vande Mataram. “This isn’t a query of any get together’s protocol; it’s a matter of respect for all the nation.” Accusing Congress of “petty and appeasement politics”, he demanded an apology from its leaders to the individuals of India.
In the meantime, Congress normal secretary Jairam Ramesh cited a CWC assembly held in Calcutta on October 28, 1937, the place on the recommendation of Rabindranath Tagore, it was determined that solely the opening stanzas of Vande Mataram could be sung at Congress classes.
“We now have been singing these traces at each session since then. Our Seva Dal sings it, our staff sing it, there is no such thing as a controversy over that,” Ramesh mentioned, including that the total model of the nationwide track was sung on Saturday. Categorically denying any try to cease the singing, he mentioned, “Because the Congress president had been standing for a very long time, Sonia ji was asking for a chair for him.”
BJP spokesperson C R Kesavan termed Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi “unpatriotic” and accused them of “blatantly insulting our wonderful Vande Mataram on Independence Day”.
“The Congress first household has demeaned the sacrifices of freedom fighters who gave their lives for the nation’s Independence, chanting Vande Mataram. Nehru’s Congress truncated Vande Mataram in 1937 for appeasement politics; Rahul’s Congress, pushed by the identical agenda, has gravely insulted it right now. Disgrace on the Congress management,” he mentioned.
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Former Kerala CM and senior CPM chief Pinarayi Vijayan, nonetheless, criticised Congress from the other way, accusing it of abandoning its legacy of secular democracy. “The complete model of Vande Mataram was sung at Independence Day features, together with on the AICC headquarters and in Congress-ruled states, regardless of there being no authorized obligation to take action. This ideological convergence weakens the united battle of secular forces in opposition to communalism. At a time when defending India’s secular and democratic character calls for higher unity, Congress’s capitulation to the Sangh Parivar solely serves to undermine it,” he mentioned.
