BJP Accuses Sonia Gandhi Of Objecting To Vande Mataram, Congress Denies Claim

A political controversy broke out on Saturday over the Vande Mataram at the Congress’s Independence Day programme, after the BJP alleged that Sonia Gandhi objected while the complete national song was being played. The Congress rejected the charge, saying she was only asking for a chair for party president Mallikarjun Kharge.

The BJP circulated a video from the event at Indira Bhawan and accused the Congress of disrespecting Vande Mataram.

BJP spokesperson Gopal Krishna Agarwal, sharing the clip on X, said, “The scene that has come to light today on Independence Day is utterly shameful.”

“Sonia Gandhi's objection during the rendition of India's national song, 'Vande Mataram', and her questioning of Congress workers as to why it was being played exposes the Congress party's mindset,” Agarwal alleged.

He described Vande Mataram as a symbol of the freedom movement and national consciousness, and questioned the Congress’s claim to that legacy.

“Is this the same Congress that lays claim to the legacy of the nation's freedom struggle?” he asked.

Agarwal also linked the episode to what he called the Congress’s “Emergency mindset”, adding, “The people of the country have rejected this mindset and will continue to reject it.”

Congress Rejects BJP Charge

The Congress denied that there had been any objection to the song and maintained that the complete version of Vande Mataram was sung at the event.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh invoked the party’s historical association with the song and referred to a Congress Working Committee meeting held in Calcutta on October 28, 1937.

“On October 28, 1937, in Calcutta, a meeting of the Congress Working Committee was held in the presence of Mahatma Gandhi, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Jawaharlal Nehru, Govind Ballabh Pant and C Rajagopalachari, and on the advice of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, they decided that the initial stanzas of Vande Mataram would be sung at the Congress sessions,” Ramesh said.

He said Tagore had advised Nehru and Bose on using the opening portions of the song at Congress gatherings.

“We have been singing those lines in every session since then, our Seva Dal sings it, our workers sing it, there is no controversy over that,” Ramesh said.

‘Full Version Was Sung’

Ramesh said the issue had already been discussed at length in Parliament and insisted there was no dispute over Saturday’s rendition.

“This was discussed in Parliament for 16 hours. We put forward our views. I narrated the whole history around it which the prime minister and the home minister did not know. I informed MPs of the context in which the Vande Mataram decision was taken,” he said.

“But today, at Indira Bhawan, the full version was sung, there is no question of a controversy over it,” Ramesh added.

Responding directly to the BJP’s interpretation of Sonia Gandhi’s gesture in the video, Ramesh said she was concerned about Kharge standing for an extended period.

“As the Congress president was standing for a long time, Soniaji was asking for a chair for him,” he said.

The exchange has added another political flashpoint around Vande Mataram, with the BJP accusing the Congress of disrespect and the Opposition party dismissing the allegation as a misreading of the video.