Sonia Gandhi’s ‘Vande Mataram’ greeting adds new layer to escalating national song row? Find out

The exchange came after a fierce round of attacks and counterattacks between the ruling BJP and the Congress, triggered by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s accusation that former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had objected to Vande Mataram as it might “irritate Muslims”, echoing, he claimed, Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s stance.

Although Rahul Gandhi was initially expected to respond, it was Priyanka Gandhi Vadra who took the lead.

On Tuesday, the Wayanad MP delivered a sharp rebuttal, alleging that the BJP was deliberately dragging the opposition into a debate over Vande Mataram to score political points ahead of next year’s West Bengal election.

She also hit out at the Prime Minister and the BJP for “selectively quoting” Nehru’s letters to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, presenting excerpts without context to imply bias.

The BJP swiftly countered. Home Minister Amit Shah argued that the national song transcends regional identity, saying, “It is true Bankim Chandra Chatterjee was born in Bengal, but Vande Mataram is not restricted to Bengal.”

Party leaders have accused the Congress of disrespecting the song by adopting a shortened version in 1937 and “pandering to communal considerations”.

The Congress, in turn, claimed the BJP and the RSS “avoid” singing the song themselves, a charge party chief Mallikarjun Kharge underscored by calling it “deeply ironic that those claiming to be guardians of nationalism have never sung Vande Mataram”.

At the centre of the row are six additional stanzas in Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s composition that invoke Hindu goddesses Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati.

In 1937, under Nehru’s leadership, the Congress Working Committee recommended that only the first two stanzas be used at national functions, arguing that religious imagery made the other verses unacceptable to sections of the Muslim community.

The resolution, however, allowed individuals to sing any version they preferred.

The BJP has now revived that decades-old decision as a political flashpoint, with Prime Minister Modi claiming the exclusions “sowed the seeds of the nation’s division” and contributed to the climate that preceded Partition.

Sonia Gandhi’s brief greeting, delivered without elaboration, added yet another layer to a debate that shows no signs of cooling, and one that has quickly become a symbolic battleground as both sides look ahead to high-stakes state contests.