The political fight between Trinamool Congress vs Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal has now become tough like Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay vs Rabindra Nath. Mamata Banerjee-led TMC says that BJP is insulting Rabindranath Tagore by singing all the verses of Vande Mataram. TMC has made this claim because the Central Government has issued an order related to Vande Mataram.
According to the new instructions of the Central Government, now whenever both ‘Vande Mataram’ and ‘Jana Gana Mana’ are sung or played in government programs, all six verses of Vande Mataram will be sung first. Jana Gana will come before the mind and everyone will have to stand up and pay respect. This order has been issued on 6 February 2026. It will take about 3 minutes and 10 seconds to sing the entire six verses of Vande Mataram. The Central Government has described this as the official version of Vande Mataram.
Also read: Vande Mataram before Jana Gana Mana…, what is there in the new order of the government?
Why were 6 verses not being sung till now?
Some verses of Vande Mataram mention Hindu gods and goddesses. India is a secular nation. Arguing that how can a prayer of any religion be the national anthem of the country, many leaders had advocated for the short section of Vande Mataram to be considered as the national anthem. On completion of 150 years of ‘Vande Mataram’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had accused Nehru in the Parliament that he had shortened ‘Vande Mataram’ by bowing to the demands of Muhammad Ali Jinnah. In the year 1950, the Constituent Assembly adopted only the first two verses. It was adopted on the advice of Rabindranath Tagore in the Congress meeting in 1937. He was of liberal ideology and strongly advocated secularism and Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.
Also read: What is the story of ‘Vande Mataram’ from the novel ‘Anand Math’?
BJP vs TMC Why did this fight happen?
Assembly elections are going to be held in April-May 2026. Bharatiya Janata Party is in power at the centre. BJP is looking to come to power in West Bengal by taking the lead in the 2021 assembly elections. The people of Bengal have considered both Bankim Chandra and Rabindranath Tagore as their icon men. Interestingly, while Bankim Chandra was in favor of Hindutva, Rabindranath was of liberal ideology.
Trinamool Congress alleges that BJP is attacking ideology. TMC says that accepting all the verses of the national anthem is against the spirit of Rabindranath Tagore’s equality of all religions. He only adopted the abridged version of the song. TMC is saying this is against the inclusive tradition of Bengal. Tagore is considered one of the greatest cultural icons of West Bengal.
Also read: ‘Indira put those who said Vande Mataram in jail,’ Amit Shah in Rajya Sabha
What is BJP saying?
BJP has questioned why TMC has any objection to the ‘adorable goddess’ of West Bengal, which is famous all over the world for Durga Puja and Pandals. What is the problem with the verses praising TMC. Both parties are trying to use cultural symbols in their favor. Now an attempt is being made to show ideological opposition between Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and Rabindranath Tagore.
Sukant Majumdar:-
What Bratya Basu said is completely foolish. Rabindranath is such a big personality in Bengali literature that he cannot be shown small. This notion of belittling Rabindranath by glorifying Bankim is baseless.
CMP leader Sujan Chakraborty said, ‘All this is happening due to political reasons. Amit Shah thinks that he understands better than Rabindranath and Netaji. People will not accept it. How can we think that BJP will honor Rabindranath or Bankim when they renamed Netaji Subhash Chandra Dock after Syama Prasad Mukherjee? They divide even great people for politics.
Also read: Nehru, Jinnah, loyalty certificate… What happened in Parliament on ‘Vande Mataram’?
Samik Bhattacharya, President, West Bengal BJP:-
There was no objection from Qazi Nazrul Islam, Syed Mustafa Siraj or Syed Mujtaba Ali, the objection came from Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Congress had to bow down. Trinamool wants the Muslims of Bengal to adopt the ideology of Afzal Guru, not of Nazrul Islam or Syed Mustafa Siraj.
Bratya Basu, Education Minister, West Bengal:-
TMC was very clear on this issue. Chattopadhyay’s Vande Mataram is revered in Bengal. But the Center tried to humiliate Tagore by issuing the Vande Mataram circular. It is a historical fact that RSS and such right wing forces do not like Tagore. Through his compositions and songs, Tagore always talked about unity and not division, which he promoted.
West Bengal Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said, ‘His love for Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay was reflected when he called him Bankim Da. Maybe they are looking at it as damage control.
Also read: ‘Dissident people want to unite and not break’, what did Akhilesh say on Vande Mataram?
Why is this happening?
‘Durga Devi’ is mentioned in some parts of the 6 verses of Vande Mataram. TMC considers it against secular sentiments. A large section of the Muslim community vocally opposes Vande Mataram. Census data conducted in 2011 shows that the Muslim population in West Bengal is more than 27 percent. TMC does minority politics. TMC is continuously accusing BJP of insulting the culture of West Bengal. TMC has been calling BJP an outsider party, which does not respect Bengali culture. A section of the opposition believes that on the pretext of Bankim Chandra, BJP is doing this exercise to unite Hindu voters. BJP leaders are creating anti-Hindu image of Mamata Banerjee.
Was Tagore opposed to Bankim Chandra?
Animesh Mukherjee, Writer, Thakurbari:-
Before Tagore, Vande Mataram was not sung rhythmically. Even today, 99 percent of the tune is hummed in the same rhythm. There is also a story as to why only two verses are sung. The country had seen communal tension in Bengal. The British were in favor of dividing the Indians. Some part of the song was Bengal centric only, some part was religious. This is why Tagore advised Nehru to adopt up to 2 verses. Tagore is a poet after Bankim Chandra. He himself has said that if we get even a fraction of the fame that Bankim Chandra Chatterjee has got as a writer, it would be a big thing.
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