New Delhi, 15 August (H.S.): The BJP on Saturday stepped up its attack on the Congress after some senior party leaders were seen speaking among themselves during the playing of the full version of the national song ‘Vande Mataram’ at a flag-hoisting ceremony at the Congress’ new headquarters, Indira Bhavan, in Delhi. The event was attended by Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and several other senior party leaders. BJP national general secretary B.L. Santosh questioned the leaders’ interaction during the rendition of the complete version of ‘Vande Mataram’. The Congress, however, dismissed any controversy over the incident.

During the ceremony, senior Congress leaders were seen standing along with the song for the first around 55 seconds. However, as the rendition continued, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Kharge and some other leaders were seen speaking to one another. Kharge and Sonia Gandhi appeared to be engaged in a conversation, following which the two called a Congress worker and spoke to him. Sonia Gandhi was also seen nodding during the interaction.

‘Vande Mataram’ was played for around three minutes at the event. It was followed by the hoisting of the national flag and the singing of the patriotic song ‘Vijayi Vishwa Tiranga Pyara’.

Reacting to the episode, BJP national general secretary (organisation) B.L. Santosh shared a video of the complete version of ‘Vande Mataram’ being played at the Congress headquarters on social media platform X. He wrote, “The mother-son duo and the national president seem to be uncomfortable with the full version of ‘Vande Mataram’ being played. Some mindsets never change, from before 1947 to after 1947.”

Following the BJP leader’s remarks, Congress leaders were questioned by journalists about the incident. Congress Rajya Sabha MP and head of the party’s media department Pawan Khera said that ‘Vande Mataram’ is the national song and that there is a longstanding tradition of singing it at Congress events. He said that during the Congress session held in Calcutta in October 1937, senior leaders of the party, including Mahatma Gandhi, had decided that ‘Vande Mataram’ would be sung at Congress programmes.

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, responding to questions from journalists, said the complete version of ‘Vande Mataram’ had been sung at the Congress headquarters and there was no controversy surrounding it. He said nobody had attempted to stop the song. Addressing the claim that the leaders appeared uncomfortable, Ramesh said Kharge had been standing for a long time, while Sonia Gandhi had asked that a chair be brought for her, which was the reason the two leaders were seen speaking to each other. When asked about reports that ‘Vande Mataram’ was not sung in Kerala, Ramesh declined to comment.

Ramesh also spoke about the history of ‘Vande Mataram’, saying that the song was discussed at a meeting of the Congress Working Committee in Calcutta on October 28, 1937. Rabindranath Tagore had advised that only the opening portion of the song should be sung at Congress meetings.

The Congress’ historical position on ‘Vande Mataram’ is linked to discussions held in 1937. At the time, the Congress sought Tagore’s opinion on the song. According to available accounts, Tagore suggested that only the first two stanzas be used as the national song because they describe the beauty of the motherland, while the later stanzas invoke Goddess Durga, which could lead to objections from some communities. Subsequently, the tradition of singing the opening two stanzas of ‘Vande Mataram’ continued at Congress programmes.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar