Vande Mataram Row: BJP Accuses Sonia Gandhi, Congress Says She Asked for Chair
The BJP and the Congress clashed on Saturday over the rendition of the full version of Vande Mataram at the latter's Independence Day event, with the ruling party accusing Congress leader Sonia Gandhi of objecting to the song, and the Opposition party dismissing the charge as baseless.
BJP national general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh, sharing video footage of the Congress event on X, alleged that Gandhi, her son Rahul Gandhi, and party chief Mallikarjun Kharge appeared upset by the singing of the full national song. “Mother, son and national president (of the Congress) seem to be upset by the rendering of full Vande Mataram. Certain mindsets never change from pre 1947 to post 1947,” he wrote.
BJP spokesperson Gopal Krishna Agarwal described the alleged incident as “utterly shameful”, saying Gandhi's supposed objection and her questioning of workers as to why the song was being played “exposes the Congress party's mindset”. He emphasised that Vande Mataram is not merely a song but a historic symbol of India's freedom struggle and national consciousness.
“Is this the same Congress that lays claim to the legacy of the nation's freedom struggle?” Aggarwal asked, adding that the party's attitude towards the song reminds people of its “Emergency mindset”.
The Congress categorically denied the allegation. Party general secretary Jairam Ramesh said there was no attempt to stop the singing of the full version, and that Gandhi was only asking for a chair for Kharge, who had been standing for a long time.
Ramesh provided historical context, recalling that on October 28, 1937, the Congress Working Committee met in Calcutta in the presence of Mahatma Gandhi, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru. On the advice of Rabindranath Tagore, it was decided that the initial stanzas of Vande Mataram would be sung at Congress sessions. “We have been singing those lines in every session since then. Our Seva Dal sings it, our workers sing it. There is no controversy over that,” he said.
Ramesh asserted that the full version of the national song was indeed sung at the party's event on Saturday. He also noted that the matter had been discussed in Parliament for 16 hours, during which he narrated the history to lawmakers, including the prime minister and home minister.
Other BJP leaders echoed the allegations. Party spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari claimed that Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi attempted to stop the rendition for “vote-bank and appeasement politics”, and accused the Congress of a “Dimagi Naxal mindset”. Another spokesperson, R P Singh, used a derogatory reference to Sonia Gandhi's Italian origins, asking why she “hates Vande Mataram so much”.
The exchange comes weeks after Parliament passed the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which makes any insult to the national song a punishable offence. The Congress had opposed the bill during the debate, with Ramesh arguing that the decision on which stanzas to sing was a matter of historical consensus, not legislation.
No independent evidence has emerged so far to confirm either side's claims. Video footage from the event shows attendees standing and singing, but the specific interaction involving Sonia Gandhi is not clearly visible in the clips shared by the BJP.
