PM, Cong take potshots at each other over Vande Mataram Mamata welcomes initiative for debate on issue

Discussion on ‘Vande Mataram’ Sparks Political Exchange

PTI, NEW DELHI/KOLKATA, DEC 8, 2025: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday accused the Congress of breaking into pieces national song Vande Mataram under the guise of social harmony, and said it was still following the politics of appeasement.

In response, the Opposition party accused him of attempting to "rewrite history" and giving a "political colour" to the debate, and asserted that no matter how much the BJP tries, it will not be able to put a single blot on the contribution of Jawaharlal Nehru.

Modi also targeted former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru for agreeing with the suggestion that Vande Mataram could antagonise Muslims. Speaking in the Lok Sabha during a discussion on Vande Mataram, the Prime Minister cited a letter written by Nehru to Subhash Chandra Bose claiming that the background of Vande Mataram could antagonise Muslims. He said the letter was written following a protest by Mohammad Ali Jinnah in Lucknow.

Quoting the letter, Modi said, Nehru had written that he had read the background of the song and it could spark anger amongst Muslims. According to the Prime Minister, later Congress convened a session in "Bankim Chandra Chatterjee's Bengal" to review the use of Vande Mataram.

"But, on October 26, Congress compromised on Vande Mataram. They broke it into pieces under the mask of social harmony, but history is witness... This was Congress' attempt at politics of appeasement. Under pressure of politics of appeasement, Congress agreed to divide Vande Mataram... this is the reason Congress also bowed to the demand for partition...," the PM alleged.

Modi said history is a testament to the fact that Congress knelt before the Muslim League and did this under pressure. "This is an instance of the politics of appeasement of the Congress. Because it bowed to the division of Vande Mataram, it bowed to the division of India later on." Congress has maintained the same politics of appeasement even today," he asserted amid thumping of desks by treasury benches.

The Prime Minister recalled that Mahatma Gandhi wrote in 1905 that Vande Mataram has become so popular that it has emerged as national anthem and wondered that why was injustice meted out to it. In response, the Opposition party said it was the Congress that gave "Vande Mataram" the importance it deserved and the status of national song.

Speaking during the day-long discussion, Congress Deputy Leader in the House Gaurav Gogoi alleged that it is the Prime Minister's habit to keep referring to India's first Prime Minister Nehru and the Congress whenever he speaks on any issue. "He took Nehru ji's name 14 times and that of the Congress 50 times during the debate on Operation Sindoor. When there was a discussion on the 75th anniversary of the Constitution, Nehru's name was taken 10 times and that of the Congress 26 times," he said...

"I want to say with utmost humility to Narendra Modi ji and his entire system, no matter how hard you try, you won't be able to put even a single blot on Pandit Nehru ji's contributions," Gogoi said. "It seemed that your political ancestors participated in various movements against the British. So I saw the intention in the PM's speech to rewrite and revise history. The second objective was to give a political colour to this debate," he added.

If Vande Mataram was so popular, why was injustice meted out to it, why was it betrayed in the last century. What were those forces that were so powerful to overrule the wishes of Mahatma Gandhi on Vande Mataram," he said.

Modi lamented that the Constitution was "throttled" and the nation chained by the Emergency when national song Vande Mataram completed 100 years. The prime minister also noted that Vande Mataram stood like a rock and inspired unity despite British oppression.

Modi noted that the mantra of Vande Mataram gave power and inspiration to the entire country during freedom struggle.

The prime minister recalled that the British were forced to ban Vande Mataram even though they brought in laws to prevent printing and propagation of the poem.

"Vande Mataram was written at a time when, after the uprising of 1857, the British government was alarmed and unleashing various forms of oppression. A campaign was underway to push the British national anthem 'God Save the Queen' into every household.

"Through Vande Mataram, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay responded to this challenge with great strength and resolve. British divided Bengal in 1905, but Vande Mataram stood like a rock and inspired unity," he said.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Monday welcomed the Prime Minister's move to initiate a discussion on 'Vande Mataram' in the Lok Sabha, saying her party has no objection to it. "Let him do it. We have no problem," Mamata said.