Kharge's Vande Mataram dare to BJP: Slap case on Gandhi, Nehru
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and the BJP are engaged in a political dispute over the mandatory singing of all six stanzas of the national song, Vande Mataram. The BJP accuses Congress of pandering to vote-bank politics, while Kharge argues that historical leaders also only sang the first two stanzas.
Why it matters
The conflict reflects ongoing tensions in Indian politics regarding national identity, religious sensitivities, and the use of patriotic symbols in governance.
NEW DELHI: Congress and BJP tussled over Vande Mataram Tuesday with the opposition party's president Mallikarjun Kharge defiantly declaring Congress would restrict to only two stanzas of the national song despite a just-passed law requiring all its six stanzas to be rendered, and BJP hitting back by saying the party which curtailed the song because of Muslim hardliners should stop claiming to be the "sole custodian of freedom movement"."I sang Vande Mataram that Gandhi, Nehru and Patel sang, the song that Vajpayee sang as PM and that he (Narendra Modi) himself sang as CM and as PM till now. If this is a crime, then he has been doing this crime for 18 years.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in