4 min learnNew DelhiAug 19, 2026 06:30 AM IST
First revealed on: Aug 19, 2026 at 06:29 AM IST
Amid the notion within the Opposition that the BJP-led NDA authorities is on the backfoot on a number of points, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) is ready to satisfy on Wednesday. This comes at a time when the occasion itself is embroiled in a controversy over the rendition of Vande Mataram.
With the BJP escalating its assault on the Congress over the rendition of Vande Mataram throughout an Independence Day occasion on the AICC headquarters and later at an occasion in Goa attended by occasion president Mallikarjun Kharge, the Congress has made it clear that its programmes will function solely the primary two stanzas of the nationwide track. Nonetheless, a piece of the Congress believes the occasion ought to tread rigorously on a problem with nationalistic overtones. The problem can also be prone to come up for dialogue on the CWC assembly, although sources stated it was not on the agenda as of now.
The Congress, citing a 1937 CWC decision, has argued that main lights of the liberty motion, together with Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore, had backed limiting public rendition to the primary two stanzas to keep away from verses containing particular spiritual imagery.
On Tuesday, Kharge stated he sang the very same model of the nationwide track that leaders comparable to Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel sang and argued that if singing that model constitutes a criminal offense, the federal government ought to register an FIR in opposition to the late nationwide leaders.
“I sang the identical Vande Mataram that Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru sang. I sang the identical Vande Mataram that they’ve been singing for 18 years … their Central authorities … I sang what Vajpayee sang … If singing it’s a crime, then they’ve been committing that crime for the previous 18 years. If this can be a crime, then file a case in opposition to Gandhiji, Nehruji and Vallabhbhai Patel. They’re unaware of the truth that, even earlier than they had been born, the Congress had handed a decision figuring out which nationwide songs to undertake for the nation. It’s not the case that no matter you say turns into the nationwide normal. Tomorrow, one other authorities would possibly come to energy; if they are saying one thing, that turns into the rule. We’ve merely continued the observe that has been in place for 90 years,” stated the Congress president.
Karnataka Congress chief B Ok Hariprasad additionally informed The Indian Specific that the state unit would sing solely the primary two stanzas of Vande Mataram at its programmes, in line with the prevailing observe.
The controversy over the nationwide track started after Parliament, within the not too long ago concluded Monsoon Session, handed the Prevention of Insults to Nationwide Honour (Modification) Act, 2026, which makes makes an attempt to cease or stop the singing or enjoying of Vande Mataram an offence.
Points on CWC agenda
The Congress, in the meantime, can also be eager to challenge that the federal government has been buffeted by scholar unrest, alleged theft of Ram temple donations, ethanol mixing and contemporary experiences of rigidity alongside the China border in Arunachal Pradesh. The occasion is now seeking to work out a method to maintain the problems alive and sharpen its political assault.
The CWC assembly would be the first because the latest Jantar Mantar protests, which ended with the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan as Union Schooling Minister. Whereas the occasion has determined to maintain its distance from the Cockroach Janta Celebration (CJP), the management is eager to hyperlink the scholar unrest to the bigger challenge of jobs. Chief of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, in the meantime, is stepping up his interactions with college students, along with his subsequent programme scheduled in Pune on August 22.
