Kharge Asks Why Modi and BJP Never Sang Full Vande Mataram
Congress president responds to BJP resolution condemning the party’s decision to limit the national song to its first two stanzas at programmes.
New Delhi1 min read
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Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday asked why Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders had not sung the full version of Vande Mataram for years, after the BJP passed a resolution condemning Congress’s stance on the song.
The BJP resolution, adopted on August 22, criticised the Congress Working Committee’s decision to re-adopt its 1937 resolution that restricted singing of Vande Mataram to the first two stanzas at party programmes.
Kharge said the issue had suddenly become important and questioned the timing. He noted that BJP leaders themselves had not performed the complete song throughout their years in power.
The row revives a long-standing debate over the national song’s length and political use. Congress maintains the 1937 position was taken to accommodate different communities. The BJP frames the limitation as an insult to the song’s full patriotic expression.
Kharge, who is also Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, made the remarks while responding to the BJP’s formal condemnation.
