Indore: Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Wednesday said those opposing 'Vande Mataram' should be considered anti-national.

Talking to reporters in Indore, he said every citizen of the country must accept Vande Mataram with utmost respect and treasure it in their hearts.

The Minister of Communications was responding to a question on the Congress party's decision to sing only the first two stanzas of the national songs at its events.

Without naming the opposition party, he said, "Anyone who opposes Vande Mataram' should be considered an anti-national."

The Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party's highest decision-making body, last week decided to abide by its1937 resolution, saying only two stanzas of Vande Mataram would be sung at all party events henceforth.

The decision came after the BJP accused Congress leaders of insulting the national song by not singing the full version at party events. During the Independence Day celebrations at the Congress party headquarters, only the first two stanzas of the national song were sung, sparking fierce criticism from the BJP, which accused the Congress of disrespecting national heritage and engaging in minority appeasement.

In response, the Congress defended its stance by citing a historic 1937 Congress Working Committee resolution, originally endorsed by Jawaharlal Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi, and Rabindranath Tagore, which explicitly limits official singing to the first two stanzas to respect India’s diverse, multi-faith fabric, as later stanzas contain intense religious imagery.

The incident quickly escalated into a national debate, with the BJP launching a nationwide campaign to promote the full six-stanza version, highlighting deep ideological divides over nationalism, secularism, and historical legacy in modern India.