Vande Mataram row: BJP announces nationwide campaign against Congress' two-stanza stand
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has announced a nationwide campaign to highlight the history and significance of Vande Mataram, days after the Congress Working Committee decided that only its first two stanzas would be sung at party programmes.
A resolution passed by the BJP on Saturday strongly rejected the Congress decision and said the party would work to protect the “honour, dignity and legacy” of the full six-stanza National Song. The BJP also said it would take the history and meaning of Vande Mataram to people across the country, with a special focus on young people.
The BJP described Vande Mataram as an expression of reverence for Bharat Mata, a mantra of India's freedom struggle and a symbol of the country's national consciousness.
The party said it would oppose any attempt to restrict the National Song on the grounds of communal pressure, appeasement or vote-bank politics. It argued that the Congress Working Committee's decision cannot override the Constitution or Parliament's law.
Why is the BJP opposing Congress' two-stanza decision?
The BJP resolution took particular exception to the Congress Working Committee's decision on August 19 to re-adopt its 1937 position of limiting the singing of Vande Mataram at Congress programmes to the first two stanzas.
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The BJP said the political compromise of 1937 cannot take precedence over the Constituent Assembly's 1950 decision or the law passed by Parliament in 2026, which, according to the resolution, gives statutory protection to the National Song at par with Jana Gana Mana.
The party also said it would bring the historical circumstances behind the 1937 decision before the public, including objections raised by the Muslim League and the politics surrounding communal and separatist demands at the time.
The resolution further referred to Mahatma Gandhi's description of Vande Mataram as an “anti-imperialist slogan” associated with the “purest national sentiment”.
The BJP said its workers would conduct a nationwide awareness drive to explain the history, meaning and national importance of Vande Mataram. The campaign will also seek to ensure that younger generations remain familiar with the full National Song and its connection with India's freedom struggle and the sacrifices made during it.
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The resolution said the issue was not merely about a political party, but about the honour of the country and the legacy of the patriots associated with India's freedom movement.
It also invoked the historical role of Vande Mataram in the freedom struggle, saying the British had sought to suppress the words because they had become a symbol of resistance and national pride.
The BJP linked the song's historical significance with the country's future, saying that while “Vande Mataram” was the clarion call of India's independence in 1947, the call for a “Viksit Bharat” in 2047 under Prime Minister Narendra Modi would also be “Vande Mataram”.
The latest BJP resolution comes after a fresh political row over the National Song. The BJP had accused Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party parliamentary chairperson Sonia Gandhi of conversing while Vande Mataram was being rendered during Independence Day celebrations on August 15 and demanded an apology.
Following the Congress Working Committee meeting, Congress MP KC Venugopal said the party's position on the recitation of Vande Mataram was clear and that it would follow the decisions taken by Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in 1937.
With ANI inputs