Amit Shah, Bankim descendant seek Sonia Gandhi apology over Vande Mataram

Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday accused the Congress of insulting the national song Vande Mataram and demanded that party leader Sonia Gandhi apologise to the people and to poet Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. Addressing a rally in Chittorgarh, Shah alleged that during the Congress's Independence Day programme at its headquarters, Gandhi asked party president Mallikarjun Kharge to stop the song midway. “We all saw it on television,” Shah said. The Congress has denied the allegation, saying Gandhi was only asking for a chair for Kharge and that the full version was sung.

Separately, West Bengal BJP MLA Sumitro Chatterjee, a direct descendant of Bankim Chandra, wrote to Gandhi seeking an unconditional apology. He described the alleged incident as "a shameless repetition of a historical mistake" and said it hurt the sentiments of people in West Bengal. The controversy follows the passage of a law that accords Vande Mataram the same legal protection as the national anthem. The Congress cited a 1937 party decision, based on advice from Rabindranath Tagore, that only the opening stanzas be sung at party sessions.