New Delhi: The Congress party on Monday called Prime Minister Narendra Modi the "master distorian" after he accused the party of fragmenting the national song Vande Mataram. Congress demanded an apology from Modi for what they described as "insulting" India’s founding fathers, including Rabindranath Tagore.

AICC general secretary for communications, Jairam Ramesh, criticised Modi on X, stating, "The Master Distorian has repeated his insult of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore today in Parliament. The Master Distorian of a PM must render an apology. He has insulted our founding fathers and most of all Tagore himself." Ramesh also shared pages from the authoritative Bengali biography of Tagore, "Rabindra-Jeebanee" by Prabhat Kumar Mukhopadhyay.

Reacting to Modi's accusation of Jawaharlal Nehru’s "appeasement politics," Ramesh questioned Modi with historical instances highlighting alliances and praises for Jinnah by other Indian leaders like Syama Prasad Mookerjee, LK Advani, and Jaswant Singh.

Modi’s remarks, marking 100 years of Vande Mataram, came during a Lok Sabha discussion on its 150th anniversary. He said Vande Mataram symbolised resilience and unity against British oppression, but alleged that Congress compromised the song on October 26 under the guise of social harmony, accusing Congress of appeasement politics that led to India's partition.

Quoting Nehru’s letter to Subhash Chandra Bose expressing concern that Vande Mataram might antagonise Muslims, Modi said the Congress bowed to pressures from the Muslim League and justified their move as an appeasement that resulted in division, a policy he claimed persists today.

Amid opposition and parliamentarian reactions, Modi asserted, "Because it bowed to the division of Vande Mataram, it bowed to the division of India later on. Congress has maintained the same politics of appeasement even today", with treasury benches thumping tables in support.

With inputs from PTI