New Delhi, Aug 20: The BJP on Thursday slammed the Congress over its decision to sing only two stanzas of “Vande Mataram” at its events, saying the opposition party has become the “new Muslim League” and appeasement politics is more important to it.
The Congress on Wednesday decided to abide by the 1937 resolution of the Congress Working Committee, the party’s highest decision-making body, on “Vande Mataram”, saying that only two stanzas of the national song would be sung at all party events henceforth.
In a post on X in Hindi, BJP president Nitin Nabin said the Congress has now formalised its insult to the national song into a resolution.
“This insult to the sacred invocation of ‘Bharat Mata’ is a disdain for those thousands of martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the nation, keeping this very song in their consciousness,” he said.
“The Congress has now formalised its insult (to Vande Mataram) into a resolution. Its working committee has decided that only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram will be sung at Congress forums,” he said.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the mistake of fragmenting “Vande Mataram” had already happened once and the nation suffered its consequences.
The Congress’ decision to sing only two stanzas of “Vande Mataram” was aimed at appeasing its vote bank in defiance of the law, he said in a statement on X.
“In 1937, for the sake of appeasement, it was the Congress itself that fragmented Vande Mataram into two parts,” Shah said.
Several ministers and BJP leaders shared the home minister’s statement on X.
BJP national general secretary Vinod Tawde also said today’s Congress is the “new Muslim League” and its decision had exposed the opposition party’s “anti-Constitution” strategy and character.
“The Congress has now also put an end to those speculations that it has become today’s ‘New Muslim League’, because the same stubbornness that the Muslim League had in 1937 regarding Vande Mataram is the stubbornness of the Congress in 2026,” Tawde said on X.
He said the Congress has once again shown that its priority was vote-bank politics rather than national sentiment.
Union Health Minister J P Nadda said that in the 150th year of “Vande Mataram”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government decided to rectify the “historical mistake” by giving legal form to the full singing of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s creation and its complete rendition at all government functions.
In 1937, “under the politics of appeasement”, the Congress’ decision to divide “Vande Mataram” into two parts “lent strength to the two-nation theory and ultimately led to the partition of the country”, he alleged.
“The people of the country are now fully aware of this frustrated mentality. The party that compromises with the country’s identity and national ethos will never be forgiven by the nation,” Nadda said.
He further alleged that the Congress had always pursued the politics of “compromise, appeasement and submission before divisive forces”.
“It has consistently compromised with national morality, national values and national sentiment. The Congress of that era is living proof of this,” he added.
Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the Congress was repeating its old mistakes.
“Insulting the national song ‘Vande Mataram’ is not merely an insult to the great work of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay ji, but also an insult to the sacrifices and martyrdom of those countless freedom fighters and revolutionaries who devoted everything they had for the independence of the motherland,” he said in a post on X.
“In the name of appeasement politics, the Congress can no longer divide the country. The unity, integrity and honour of the nation are paramount,” he added.
BJP MP Anurag Thakur said the Congress considers itself above Parliament and the Constitution and asked why its leaders could not spare three minutes and 10 seconds to sing the full national song.
He alleged that in its politics of appeasement, the Gandhi family is not even shying away from repeatedly insulting 1.4 billion Indians and Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.
Thakur told reporters that the Congress had the opportunity to correct the “historical mistake” of insulting Chattopadhyay made by former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the party. But it has “once again shown that votes are more important”, he said.
“Is there some compulsion to pursue Muslim appeasement and, in some way, seek votes by dividing the country on the basis of religion, caste and region as the country was divided at that time?” Thakur said.
He also asked whether “one family is above the Constitution, Parliament and the country”.
Former education minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the unity and honour of the country are greater than any vote bank.
“The country will never compromise on the honour of ‘Vande Mataram’,” he said in a post on X.(PTI)
