Bengaluru, 16 September (H.S.): Karnataka Home Minister and Congress leader Priyank Kharge has defended the state government's decision to restrict the singing of Vande Mataram to its first two stanzas at official functions, amid mounting criticism from the BJP.

Addressing a public meeting, Kharge challenged BJP leaders B.Y. Vijayendra and R. Ashoka to sing all the stanzas of Vande Mataram without using a teleprompter or referring to a piece of paper. He said he would resign from his post if they successfully completed the challenge.

Kharge said the decision to sing only the first two stanzas had been taken by senior national leaders after careful consideration. He questioned whether BJP leaders and Prime Minister Narendra Modi considered themselves more knowledgeable than Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhas Chandra Bose and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore.

The controversy intensified after the Union Home Ministry directed that all six stanzas of Vande Mataram be sung as part of events commemorating the song's 150th anniversary.

The Congress Working Committee, however, decided at its meeting on August 19 to adhere to the party's 1937 resolution, under which only the first two stanzas would be sung at party programmes.

The opposition BJP accused the Congress government of indulging in appeasement politics and demanded the withdrawal of the order.

Meanwhile, a public interest litigation challenging the Karnataka government's directive was filed before the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday. The petition was submitted by advocate Girish Bharadwaj.

The petitioner contended that the state order contradicted instructions issued by the Union Home Ministry to all states on July 9, 2026, requiring strict compliance with the official six-stanza version during group singing.

Arguing that the Karnataka government could not prescribe a format different from the one stipulated by the Centre, the petitioner urged the High Court to set aside the state's directive with immediate legal effect.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Arun Lakshman