Days after the BJP accused Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge of singing "incomplete" 'Vande Mataram' alleged that Sonia Gandhi objected to singing the full version at the Independence Day function at the party headquarters, the Congress Working Committee on Wednesday decided to sing only the first two stanzas at the party events, in line with the 1937 resolution of the party.
In 1937, Congress adopted the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram penned by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in 1875 as the national song and omitted the remaining four stanzas over religious references.
This comes a day after Kharge pointed out that he sang the same version of Vande Mataram that was sung by Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhai Patel, and former PMs Jawaharlal Nehru and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
"If that is the crime, then file a case against Gandhiji, Nehru and Vallabhbhai Patel," he said. "The BJP does not know that before they were born, the Congress had passed the resolution to decide about the national song and the national anthem. I did what has been happening for the last 80 years."
However, when the BJP first raised the issue over disruption of Vande Mataram, the Congress claimed that the entire national song was sung at the party headquarters on August 15 and that Sonia Gandhi was merely asking for a chair for Kharge.
The Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026, was passed by the Rajya Sabha on July 29 and the Lok Sabha on July 30, granting Vande Mataram the same legal and statutory protection as the national anthem, Jana Gana Mana. It also make the disruptions during the song's rendition a criminal offence. President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the bill on August 11.
Penalties include up to three years in prison, a fine or both for a first offence and a minimum of 1-year jail term for subsequent convictions.
