BJP, Cong engage in verbal tussle over Vande Mataram resolution in Gujarat assembly

Gandhinagar, Feb 23 (PTI) The ruling BJP and opposition Congress engaged in a war of words in the Gujarat assembly on Monday after Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel moved a resolution to commemorate 150 years of national song Vande Mataram.

Taking part in the debate after Patel moved the resolution, Deputy CM Harsh Sanghavi accused the Congress and its past leadership, including former PM Jawaharlal Nehru, of diluting and disrespecting the national song for vote-bank politics.

Sanghavi said, "Vande Mataram is not merely a song but a devotion towards worshipping the nation as a mother. It is unfortunate that certain political parties and people have hatred even towards this sacred song. They had it in the past, and I see no scope for change." What objection could any Indian could have to singing the song that revolutionaries chanted while going to the gallows during the freedom struggle, he asked.

Sanghavi alleged that opposition to Vande Mataram dated back to the pre-Independence era.

"The British had objections to this song. Along with them, (Muhammad Ali) Jinnah also had objections, and so did his followers," he said.

The singing of Vande Mataram began in Parliament only in 1992, after the BJP moved a proposal, asserting that for the BJP, patriotism was not political but an inherent value rooted in cultural nationalism.

Attacking the Congress, Sanghavi said exactly 50 years ago, when the song completed 100 years, then PM Indira Gandhi imposed Emergency and jailed those who raised slogans of Vande Mataram.

During the current 150th anniversary celebrations, Congress leaders in Parliament opposed holding a discussion on Vande Mataram and some remained absent during its singing, he added.

"From Nehru ji to the current Congress leadership, their dislike for Vande Mataram remains intact," he said.

In 1937, Sanghavi alleged that under pressure from Muslim League, Congress leaders agreed to sing only the first two stanzas of the song.

"This division of Vande Mataram was not just the division of a song; it was the seed of the country's Partition," he said while accusing the Congress of encouraging separatist tendencies through appeasement politics.

If the Congress and Nehru had shown courage at that time, perhaps the country would not have faced Partition, Sanghavi said.

Those who do not respect Mother India "should have no right to sit in this House", he asserted.

Responding to the allegations, senior Congress MLA Shailesh Parmar defended his party's historical association with Vande Mataram and accused the BJP of distorting history.

"The feeling of patriotism flows in the blood of Indians. There is no need to remind anyone of it," Parmar said, clarifying that he and his party supported the chief minister's resolution.

He described Vande Mataram as a "revolutionary formula" that shook the foundations of British rule and became the voice of the freedom movement.

Parmar traced its chronology, noting that Bankim Chandra first wrote the stanzas in 1875 and later expanded them in "Anandmath" in 1882.

During the 1905 partition of Bengal movement, he said, Rabindranath Tagore popularised the song, turning it into a unifying cry.

"You may change slogans and narratives, but you cannot erase history," Parmar said.

He pointed out that in 1946, at a Congress session in Calcutta attended by Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Nehru, a resolution was passed to accord Vande Mataram the status of national song.

After Independence, he said the Constituent Assembly recognised it as the national song with consensus across leaders, including Jan Sangh leader Syama Prasad Mukherjee.

Participating in the discussion, Congress MLA Jignesh Mevani said India's Independence movement was built on the unity of people across castes and religions under the leadership of the Congress.

"People of all castes and religions united and laid the foundation of our Independence movement," he said while paying tribute to leaders such as Abdul Rasul, Jawaharlal Nehru and Rabindranath Tagore.

The right to the slogan 'Vande Mataram' belongs to every Indian, Mevani said.

"I am proud to be a worker of the Congress, whose soldiers smiled while facing British batons, taking bullets and going to jail," he added.

Defending Nehru against criticism from the treasury benches during the broader debate, Mevani said in a democracy anyone could criticise leaders.

But Nehru spent 11-12 years in jail for the motherland, he asserted.

"We can all chant this slogan, but who cannot chant it? Those involved in espionage scandals and whose names appeared in Epstein files do not have the moral right to chant Vande Mataram," said Mevani.

The resolution was passed unanimously with the Congress and AAP extending support.

While moving the resolution, the CM said Vande Mataram, written in 1875, completed 150 years on November 7 last year.

"Under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, this occasion is being celebrated nationwide. Vande Mataram, which has become a mantra of national worship, is dedicated to mother India and provides an example of living an ideal life," he said.

"Let us all wholeheartedly welcome the glorious occasion of celebrating 150 years of Vande Mataram and resolve to keep national unity intact with new energy," he added. PTI PJT PD BNM