Why didn’t you sing Vande Mataram in full all these years?: Mallikarjun Kharge questions Modi, BJP
Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge has criticized the BJP for questioning the Congress party's stance on the national song 'Vande Mataram'. Kharge argued that the BJP is using the issue to polarize voters and noted that the current practice of singing only two stanzas has been standard for decades.
Why it matters
This reflects ongoing political tensions in India regarding national identity, patriotism, and the use of historical symbols in contemporary political discourse.
Responding to the BJP’s resolution passed on Saturday (August 22, 2026) condemning the Congress Working Committee’s decision to re-adopt its 1937 resolution restricting the singing of “Vande Mataram” to its first two stanzas at Congress programmes, Congress president and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge asked why Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders had not sung the full version of the song all these years and why the issue had suddenly become important.
“Mr. Modi was Chief Minister of Gujarat for 13-and-a-half years. He has completed 12 years as Prime Minister of India. Why didn’t he sing the full version of the song all these years? Why didn’t the BJP Chief Ministers in other States sing the full version?” he asked.
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