# Karnataka Vande Mataram row reaches Supreme Court

2026-09-22T02:49:24+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk

Corroboration: 2 independent outlets

BJP and JD(S) legislators sang all six stanzas of Vande Mataram in the Karnataka assembly and legislative council on Monday, defying the Congress government's September 8 order restricting official renditions to two stanzas. The protest disrupted the special session called to discuss drought and the Western Ghats report. Opposition leader R Ashoka said, “Vande Mataram is in every cell of our blood. We will sing it in full at any cost.” Home minister Priyank Kharge ridiculed the BJP, saying its members could not pronounce the words and read from paper. The government had warned of legal action for violating the directive. Separately, the Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to examine whether not singing Vande Mataram can be a punishable offence, but refused to rule on the two-versus-six stanzas question. The court sought the centre's response to a PIL by Carnatic vocalist T M Krishna, who argues the full song violates secular character by invoking Hindu deities.

## Indian Opinion Analysis

The coverage is uniform straight reporting with no discernible slant from any source. Times of India presents the Assembly protest and home minister's remarks as a straightforward clash, while Hindustan Times adds the BJP's allegation that the Congress government truncated the song to please its central leadership and notes the pending High Court challenge. Neither outlet editorialises. The Supreme Court's separate intervention injects a legal dimension that the legislature row alone did not capture: the penal-enforcement question now rests with a constitutional bench, whose view on the Bijoe Emanuel precedent will determine how far a state can go. That hearing is the next concrete date to watch.

## Coverage

- timesofindia.indiatimes.com (neutral report) <https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/bjp-jds-legislators-sing-all-six-stanzas-of-vande-mataram/articleshow/134394871.cms>
  straight report of Supreme Court hearing and petitioner's secularism argument
- hindustantimes.com (neutral report) <https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/vande-mataram-row-disrupts-karnataka-assembly-proceedings-101790019827588.html>
  added BJP allegation of Congress appeasement and High Court petition without editorialising
- timesofindia.indiatimes.com (neutral report) <https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/legal/news/is-not-singing-vande-mataram-punishable-offence-supreme-court-to-examine/articleshow/134404494.cms>
  straight report of Supreme Court hearing and petitioner's secularism argument

Tags: BJP, Congress, Karnataka Assembly, Priyank Kharge, R Ashoka, Vande Mataram
Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/karnataka-assembly-disrupted-as-bjp-sings-full-vande-mataram/
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Cite: https://indianopinion.org/karnataka-assembly-disrupted-as-bjp-sings-full-vande-mataram/#story-in-brief
