&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "‘We’re having Vande Mataram debate because West Bengal polls are coming’: Priyanka Gandhi on national song row")
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra questioned the ongoing debate on the national song of India on Monday (Dec 8), alleging that the government was using the discussion to divert attention from public issues. Vadra said that there was "no controversy" around Vande Mataram. While speaking in the Lok Sabha during the special sitting convened to mark 150 years of Vande Mataram, Vadra said, “Why are we having a debate on Vande Mataram? What debate can there be on the national song?".
She added that the timing of the discussion on the national song was politically motivated, “We are having a Vande Mataram debate because West Bengal polls are coming."
She said that while the Indian citizens were struggling with multiple challenges in the country, the government was “not finding solutions". She accused the ruling party was using Parliament to “level more accusations against those who fought for freedom and made sacrifices for the country".
Shortly after her speech, the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) hit back at Vadra, claiming that she was undermining a historic symbol of the freedom struggle.
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BJP's national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari said on X, “Priyanka Vadra questions the need to discuss Vande Mataram in Parliament—the very song which is the foundation of the Indian freedom struggle. ‘Aaj behes ki kya jarurat hai?’ This is the Muslim League–Maoist Congress thought! Talk about Gaza, be silent on Vande Mataram."
