Kharge, Shah clash in RS as Vande Mataram debate turns political

A special Rajya Sabha debate marking 150 years of Vande Mataram triggered sharp political sparring on Tuesday, with Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge accusing the BJP of distorting history and Union Home Minister Amit Shah countering that critics "need to think afresh" about the national song's legacy.

- ANAND SINGH/TDG NETWORK

Kharge opened the attack, alleging that the BJP's ideological predecessors "served the British" while Congress leaders went to jail chanting Vande Mataram during the freedom struggle. He reminded the government that the Congress had popularised the song long before Independence, making it the anthem of anti-colonial resistance.

Responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's charge that Jawaharlal Nehru limited the song to two stanzas to appease the Muslim League, Kharge said the 1937 decision was taken collectively by the Congress Working Committee. He noted that the meeting included Mahatma Gandhi, Subhas Chandra Bose, Rabindranath Tagore, Abul Kalam Azad, Dr Rajendra Prasad, Madan Mohan Malaviya and others. “Why single out Nehru?” he asked.