Congress defies Vande Mataram protocol, resolves to sing only 2 stanzas; BJP hits back with ‘new Muslim League’ taunt
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Congress defies Vande Mataram protocol, resolves to sing only 2 stanzas; BJP hits back with ‘new Muslim League’ taunt")
The row over the national song has escalated between Congress and BJP Photograph: (ANI)
Congress said it will sing only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram, citing a 1937 CWC resolution. BJP president Nitin Nabin attacked the party as the “new Muslim League”, escalating the row over the national song and its status alongside Jana Gana Mana.
The row over the national song has escalated between Congress and BJP, with the Congress Working Committee (CWC) on Wednesday (Aug 19) issuing a stern statement saying that the party will only sing the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram at its programmes. Reacting to this, BJP national president Nitin Nabin termed the grand-old party as ‘new Muslim League.' The tussle between the two parties began as a video went viral purportedly showing Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi gesturing and speaking to party president Mallikarjun Kharge while Vande Mataram was being sung.
What Congress said?
The Congress party has cited a 1937 CWC resolution to back its stand, arguing that people who were part of the freedom movement, including Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore, had backed limiting the public rendition of Vande Mataram to its first two stanzas. Following a CWC meeting convened by the All India Congress Committee (AICC) chief, Mallikarjun Kharge, at the party headquarters Indira Bhavan in Delhi, AICC general secretary in charge of organisation KC Venugopal told a press conference that there was “no confusion” over the rendition of Vande Mataram within the Congress. AICC general secretary in charge of communication Jairam Ramesh also said that BJP is making a issue out of nothing. “There is no controversy in this,” he added.
"Our stand is very clear. The CWC resolution of 1937… Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Rabindranath Tagore, Subhas Chandra Bose and Sardar Patel. We will abide by the decision taken by them. Our Congress workers will do that only – sing only the first two stanzas,” Venugopal said. “The national anthem (Jana Gana Mana) and Vande Mataram are emotional for the Congress, but it is political for the BJP. That is the difference between us and them,” he added.
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What BJP said?
In a post on X, BJP president slammed the Congress over its decision to sing only two stanzas of Vande Mataram at their events, saying the opposition party has become the “new Muslim League” for votes.Nabin, in a post on X in Hindi, said, “This insult to the sacred invocation of ‘Bharat Mata’ is a disdain for those thousands of martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the nation, keeping this very song in their consciousness.” In a veiled reference to a row over singing of the full version of Vande Mataram during the Independence Day event at the Congress office on August 15, Nabin said the same insult to the national song reflected in an “individual’s conduct” a few days ago. Still, the Congress dismissed it as a “coincidence.”
What the new rule about national song states?
In the recently concluded Monsoon Session of Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Central government passed the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Act, 2026, and made it a new law which elevates ‘Vande Mataram’ to an equal status with the National Anthem (Jana Gana Mana). It also makes attempts to stop or prevent the singing or playing of Vande Mataram a criminal offence.
