Vande Mataram Controversy: BJP Complains Against Sonia Gandhi

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BJP leaders have filed a complaint against Sonia Gandhi at Urwa Police Station over the Vande Mataram controversy.
BJP alleges her gestures during the song showed disrespect, while Congress says she was arranging a chair for Mallikarjun Kharge.
The dispute has revived the decades-old political debate over the full rendition of Vande Mataram.

NEW DELHI: The Vande Mataram controversy intensified on Sunday after BJP leaders filed a complaint against Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi at Urwa Police Station in Karnataka. The complaint follows a video from the Congress Independence Day programme in New Delhi that BJP leaders say shows Gandhi objecting to the rendition of the national song.

The video shows Gandhi gesturing and speaking towards Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge while Vande Mataram was being performed. BJP leaders interpreted the interaction as an attempt to interrupt or object to the recital, while Congress has rejected that interpretation.

The dispute has quickly moved beyond the video itself, reopening a wider political argument over the historical rendition of Vande Mataram and the positions taken by Congress and the BJP on national symbols.

Vande Mataram Controversy Triggers BJP-Congress Clash

BJP leaders have accused the Congress leadership of showing discomfort with the complete version of Vande Mataram and have demanded an explanation and apology from Sonia Gandhi.

The BJP has also connected the latest controversy with the Congress Working Committee’s 1937 recommendation that only the first two stanzas of the song be sung at national gatherings. The party argues that the later portions contain references to Hindu deities, including Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati, and has used that history to question the Congress position.

The historical debate has resurfaced because the current dispute involves the full rendition of the song at an Independence Day event. BJP leaders are presenting the episode as part of a broader question about respect for national symbols.

Vande Mataram Controversy: Congress Gives Different Explanation

Congress has rejected the BJP’s interpretation of the video and said there was no attempt to stop the national song.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the complete version of Vande Mataram was performed at the event. The party’s explanation is that Sonia Gandhi was communicating about arranging a chair for Mallikarjun Kharge, who had been standing during the programme.

That explanation has not ended the controversy. BJP leaders continue to argue that the footage raises questions about the conduct of senior Congress leaders during the rendition.

Vande Mataram Debate Reopens Historical Questions

The latest confrontation has revived an older debate about how Vande Mataram should be performed at public and official functions.

The song, written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, occupies a significant place in India’s freedom movement. The decision in 1937 to limit national gatherings to its first two stanzas has remained politically contested, with Congress leaders maintaining that the decision was a collective one involving several prominent leaders of the freedom movement rather than the decision of Jawaharlal Nehru alone.

The BJP has continued to use that historical decision in its criticism of Congress, while the Congress rejects the suggestion that it has disrespected the national song.