Congress Cites Historian Sugata Bose To Counter Modi’s Claims On Vande Mataram Debate

The Congress on Tuesday referred to historian Sugata Bose’s remarks that it was on Rabindranath Tagore’s advice that the party decided in 1937 that only the first part of "Vande Mataram" would be sung at national meetings, saying the comments "further expose" Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Jairam Ramesh, Congress general secretary in-charge of communications, shared on X a video of Sugata Bose discussing the relationship between Subhas Chandra Bose and India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

In the clip, Sugata Bose says, "Subhas Chandra Bose and Jawaharlal Nehru worked very closely at the time of the All India Congress Committee's meeting in Calcutta in October-November of 1937. At that time both of them consulted Rabindranath Tagore on a very sensitive subject and that was the song Vande Mataram."

He adds, "It was on Rabindranath's advice that the Congress decided at this AICC meeting that from now on, at national meetings only the first part of the song, which is a beautiful evocation of the national splendour of our country, would be performed," noting Tagore’s emphasis on unity and avoiding religious discord.

Sugata Bose further states, "And that was because Tagore felt that we needed unity and good sense in our nationalist movement and he did not want a rivalry between different religious communities. So already from that point onwards they were coming close together and Mahatma Gandhi decided that Subhas Chandra Bose would be the president of the Congress, and he would be Jawaharlal Nehru's successor in 1938."

He says the year marked the convergence of different ideological strands within the Congress.

Sharing the video, Ramesh wrote that Sugata Bose, “one of India’s finest historians”, is a Harvard University professor, director of the Netaji Research Bureau in Kolkata, a former Lok Sabha MP (2014–2019), and the grandson of Sarat Chandra Bose. Ramesh highlighted his scholarly work on Netaji before adding, "This conversation further exposes the PM."

Ramesh’s remarks come a day after Modi accused the Congress of betraying "Vande Mataram", claiming Nehru bowed to Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s objections, leading to the song’s fragmentation and paving the way for appeasement politics.

The day-long debate marking the 150th anniversary of "Vande Mataram" saw heated exchanges between government and opposition benches on nationalism and historical interpretation.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra delivered the Congress’ response, defending Nehru and asserting that the government sought the discussion with the West Bengal elections in mind. Opposition parties accused the BJP-led NDA of politicising the debate and rewriting history, while Modi and treasury members accused the Congress of appeasement.

Priyanka Gandhi, in turn, accused the BJP of committing a "big sin" by manufacturing a controversy over "Vande Mataram", and Modi of "selectively" quoting Nehru. She urged the government to "understand" the true chronology of the national song.