Vande Mataram Congress Controversy: On the special occasion of 80th Independence Day, the tricolor was hoisted at the Congress Headquarters (AICC) in Delhi and during this the entire 'Vande Mataram' was sung. Perhaps this was the first time that the entire verses of the national anthem 'Vande Mataram' were sung in an official program of the Congress, but a new political controversy arose over this matter.
The main reason for this controversy was the serious allegation by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which claimed that Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi had raised questions on singing the complete Vande Mataram at the Congress headquarters and tried to stop it midway. However, Congress rejected all these allegations of BJP outright. Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh, clarifying the situation, said that Sonia Gandhi had not given any signal to stop singing Vande Mataram, rather she was asking for a chair for party president Mallikarjun Kharge who had been standing for a long time. When some pictures and videos of this incident went viral on social media, BJP claimed that Congress had stopped the singing of the national anthem midway, which was completely wrong. Giving further clarification on this, Congress said that the tradition of singing only the first two verses of Vande Mataram was started on the advice of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. Despite this, Jairam Ramesh made it clear that the entire Vande Mataram was sung in the program that day and no one created any hindrance or interference in it.
BJP takes sharp aim at Congress regarding 'Vande Mataram'
Senior BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain, while talking to the media, launched a scathing attack on Congress on this entire issue. He said that it is very unfortunate that an attempt was made to ban the singing of Vande Mataram in the Congress office. He reminded that even during the Congress governments in history, there were restrictions on singing Vande Mataram on many occasions.
Along with this, while referring to the Independence Day celebrations organized at the Red Fort, he also said that it is a very unfortunate situation that senior opposition leaders like Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge did not attend the official Independence Day celebrations.
Congress's clarification: Sonia Gandhi was asking for chair for Kharge
Congress has issued an official clarification on the allegations of BJP banning Vande Mataram and stopping it. Rejecting this entire Vande Mataram controversy, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that there is actually no controversy here. He told that Sonia Gandhi herself was standing for a long time and was only indicating to arrange a chair for Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge who was feeling unwell.
Citing history and tradition, Jairam Ramesh further said that a historic meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) was held in Calcutta on 28 October 1937 regarding the singing of 'Vande Mataram'. At that time Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore had given this valuable advice to the Congress that only the opening lines (first two stanzas) of 'Vande Mataram' should be sung in public meetings and political programs. Congress respects the same historical tradition even today.