The Delhi Police have initiated a preliminary investigation into a complaint seeking registration of an FIR against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders over their alleged disrespect to Vande Mataram during an Independence Day programme at the AICC headquarters.
According to the complaint, Sonia Gandhi allegedly made gestures and spoke to people present during the rendition, apparently objecting to the continuation of the national song. It further alleged that Rahul Gandhi was heard saying, “We are not singing Vande Mataram.”
The police, however, are yet to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the alleged disruption. The complaint was filed on August 16, a day after the event.
The controversy has triggered a sharp political confrontation between the BJP and the Congress, with the BJP alleging that senior Congress leaders disrespected the national song.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah demanded that Sonia Gandhi apologise to the nation and revered author Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay for the alleged “sin”.
The Congress has rejected the allegations and offered a different explanation for the events captured during the programme. The party said Sonia Gandhi was merely asking for a chair for Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who had been standing for some time.
The Congress has also asserted that there was no attempt to stop the singing of the full version of Vande Mataram. It maintained that in 1937, a meeting of the Congress Working Committee in Kolkata had decided that only the initial stanzas of the song would be sung at Congress sessions.
Meanwhile, complaints have also been filed against the Congress leaders in other states, including Karnataka and Odisha, over their alleged disrespect to Vande Mataram.
