Kharge said, I did the same thing which has been happening for the last 80 years
Panaji. A day after he was accused of singing the national anthem 'Vande Mataram' “incompletely”, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday hit out at the BJP, saying he sang the same antara as was sung by national leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Kharge said that if singing the Antara he did is a crime, then cases should also be registered against those leaders who had sung the same song. The ruling BJP alleged that the Congress president sang the national anthem incompletely during his public meeting in South Goa on Monday, and accused the opposition party of insulting the national anthem.
Talking on this controversy, Kharge said, I sang the same 'Vande Mataram' which was sung by Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru… the same song which was also sung by Vallabhbhai Patel and Atal Bihari Vajpayee. If this is a crime, then file cases against Gandhiji, Nehru and Vallabhbhai Patel also. Kharge said that BJP is not aware of the national anthem and the historical decisions taken by Congress regarding the anthem.
He said, those people do not know that even before his birth, Congress had passed a resolution to take a decision about the national song and anthem. The Congress President said that he sang the same 'Vande Mataram' which has been sung for decades. Kharge said, I did the same thing which has been happening for the last 80 years.