Now Reading: Kharge hits back at Amit Shah over Vande Mataram row
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Kharge hits back at Amit Shah over Vande Mataram row
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday questioned the BJP's charge that the party's decision to sing only two stanzas of Vande Mataram was anti-national. Speaking in Kalaburagi, Kharge said the shorter version…
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday questioned the BJP's charge that the party's decision to sing only two stanzas of Vande Mataram was anti-national. Speaking in Kalaburagi, Kharge said the shorter version was agreed upon in 1937 by Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhas Chandra Bose and Sardar Patel, and the Congress has followed it for nearly 90 years. He accused the Modi government of pursuing politics of polarisation and asked why Amit Shah had not acted earlier on the full version.
Separately, the BJP passed a resolution at its new office-bearers meeting in Delhi condemning the Congress's August 19 decision to reaffirm the 1937 resolution. Party president Nitin Nabin said the Congress could not override constitutional institutions or laws, citing the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Act, 2026, which grants Vande Mataram the same legal status as the national anthem. The BJP announced a campaign to promote the full five-stanza version.
Indian Opinion Analysis
India Today frames Kharge's counterattack as defensive and embeds it in a broader accusation of polarisation, while The Federal leads with the BJP's resolution and the legal amendment, presenting the Congress decision as a settled provocation. Neither source examines whether the 1937 agreement was a pragmatic compromise of its era or whether the 2026 amendment truly mandates the full song. The middle ground is that both parties are using a symbolic issue to rally their bases ahead of elections, and the concrete fact to watch is whether the BJP's campaign triggers any compliance action under the new law.
Coverage: 2 sources, 1 pro-government, 1 government-critical
Sources (2): indiatoday.in (government critical), thefederal.com (pro government)
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
