Vande Mataram Row Escalates: BJP Targets Congress, Plans Nationwide Campaign

The political battle over Vande Mataram intensified on Saturday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi shortly after the party adopted a resolution condemning the Congress’s decision to sing only the first two stanzas of the National Song at its programmes.

The BJP also announced a nationwide campaign to take the history, meaning and legacy of Vande Mataram to the public, with a special focus on younger Indians.

At the heart of the dispute is the Congress Working Committee’s decision to reaffirm a 1937 resolution restricting the rendition of Vande Mataram at party events to its opening two stanzas. Congress MP KC Venugopal said the party was following a decision taken during the era of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

The BJP accused the Congress of dragging the country back to the politics of the 1930s.

In its resolution, the party described Vande Mataram as an expression of reverence for Bharat Mata, a rallying cry of the freedom struggle and an enduring symbol of India’s national consciousness. It pledged to protect the “honour, dignity and legacy” of all six stanzas.

The BJP also invoked the Constituent Assembly’s 1950 declaration and the law passed by Parliament in 2026 granting statutory protection to Vande Mataram at par with Jana Gana Mana. It argued that a Congress party resolution could not override either the Constitution or an Act of Parliament.

“Singing Vande Mataram is a matter of pride for every Indian. But Congress still wants to take the country back to the 1930s,” BJP MP Tarun Chugh said, calling the decision an insult to the Constitution.

BJP MP Biplab Kumar Deb echoed the attack: “Congress is still stuck in the mindset of 1937, even though it is now 2026. The country has moved forward.”

Locket Chatterjee, a BJP general secretary in West Bengal, cautioned against politicising the song but said it should neither be altered nor deployed for political gain.

The meeting also reviewed the BJP’s welfare and outreach programmes. West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya said party workers from “Kutch to Kohima” would participate in the forthcoming Seva Sankalp Abhiyaan, aimed at reaching marginalised communities, Scheduled Castes, young people and women.

The BJP said its Vande Mataram campaign would seek to ensure that future generations understand the song’s place in the freedom struggle. But with the Congress holding its ground on the 1937 decision, the National Song is now set to become the latest ideological battlefield between the two parties.

(With inputs from ANI)