# BJP files complaint, Amit Shah demands apology over Vande Mataram 2026-08-16T13:02:54+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 4 independent outlets (5 source reports) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday accused Congress leader Sonia Gandhi of asking to stop the national song Vande Mataram midway during the party’s Independence Day event at its headquarters in New Delhi. Speaking in Chittorgarh, Shah demanded an apology to the people and to the song's author Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, calling it an insult. BJP MP Manoj Tiwari also criticised the Congress leadership, and the party lodged a formal complaint against Sonia Gandhi at a police station in Karnataka, as reported by Rediff and NDTV. The Congress denied the allegations, asserting that Sonia Gandhi was only gesturing for a chair for party president Mallikarjun Kharge, who cannot stand for long due to health reasons. A party spokesperson accused the BJP of creating a fake controversy to divert attention. The Federal and Mathrubhumi note that visuals from the event showed senior leaders speaking during the recitation, but Congress maintains no attempt was made to stop the song. Separately, BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar accused the Kerala government of deliberately omitting Vande Mataram from official Independence Day events, alleging influence from the IUML and Jamaat-e-Islami. He warned of legal and political consequences. CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam, however, demanded an apology from Congress for allowing the full rendition of the song, arguing it contains religious verses unacceptable to secular parties, according to Mathrubhumi. ## Coverage - ndtv.com - rediff.com - thefederal.com - english.mathrubhumi.com - english.mathrubhumi.com (2) This story was synthesised by AI from the 5 sources linked above. Updated: this story now draws on 5 sources. Last updated 2026-08-16T13:15:41+00:00. Tags: Amit Shah, BJP, Congress, Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Vande Mataram Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/amit-shah-demands-apology-from-sonia-gandhi-over-vande-mataram-row/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/amit-shah-demands-apology-from-sonia-gandhi-over-vande-mataram-row/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/