BJP passes 'Vande Mataram' resolution, condemns Congress' two stanza decision
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "BJP passes 'Vande Mataram' resolution, condemns Congress' two stanza decision")
BJP national president Nitin Nabin during an induction meeting with the party’s newly appointed national office-bearers at the BJP headquarter, in New Delhi on Saturday. BJP National General Secretary (Org.) B. L. Santhosh and party MP Vinod Tawde also present. Photograph: (ANI)
The BJP strongly opposed the Congress decision to limit Vande Mataram to its first two stanzas and announced a nationwide campaign to protect the National Song's full six-stanza legacy.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday (August 22) strongly condemned the Congress Working Committee's decision to re-adopt its 1937 resolution limiting the singing of Vande Mataram to its first two stanzas at party programmes.
The BJP said Vande Mataram represents India's National Song, reverence for Bharat Mata, the spirit of the freedom struggle and the country's national consciousness.
In its resolution, the BJP said it would oppose the Congress decision and work to protect the "honour, dignity and legacy" of all six stanzas of Vande Mataram.
The party said it would reaffirm the 1950 Constituent Assembly declaration and the 2026 law passed by Parliament, which it said provides statutory protection to the National Song at par with Jana Gana Mana.
The BJP also said it would oppose any attempt to make Vande Mataram subject to communal pressure, appeasement or vote bank politics. It maintained that the Congress Working Committee's decision cannot override the Constitution or Parliament's law.
The resolution said the political compromise of 1937 cannot supersede the constitutional decision of 1950 and the 2026 legislation.
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BJP plans nationwide campaign
The BJP said it would present the historical background of the restrictions on Vande Mataram before the public, including objections raised by the Muslim League and the politics surrounding communal and separatist demands.
The party also said it would highlight Mahatma Gandhi's description of Vande Mataram as an "anti-imperialist slogan" linked to the "purest national sentiment."
BJP workers will launch a nationwide campaign to spread awareness about the history, meaning and national importance of Vande Mataram. The resolution said the issue concerns India's honour and the legacy of patriots who sacrificed their lives for the country.
The BJP said the song once became powerful enough to alarm the British, who tried to suppress it for inspiring resistance. It added that generations embraced it as a symbol of freedom and national pride.
The resolution further said that while "Vande Mataram" represented India's independence movement in 1947, the call for "Viksit Bharat" in 2047 under Prime Minister Narendra Modi would also carry the same slogan.
Congress defends 1937 resolution
The Congress Working Committee decided on Wednesday that only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram would be sung at party events, citing its 1937 resolution.
The decision came after a political row over allegations by the BJP that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party parliamentary chairperson Sonia Gandhi spoke to each other while Vande Mataram was being rendered during Independence Day celebrations on August 15.
The BJP had demanded a public apology from the Congress leaders.
After the CWC meeting, Congress MP KC Venugopal said the party's position on Vande Mataram remained clear and that it would follow the decisions taken by Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in 1937.
