‘Vande Mataram’ Controversy: Congress Highlights Historian on Tagore’s Advice, Criticises PM
Sugata Bose confirms Congress decision to sing only first part of ‘Vande Mataram’ in 1937 opposition slams PM over historical distortion
New Delhi, Dec 9: The Congress on Tuesday cited historian Sugata Bose to defend the party’s 1937 decision to sing only the first part of the national song “Vande Mataram” at its meetings, while sharply criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for what it called a politically motivated distortion of history.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh shared a video clip on X, in which Sugata Bose, grandson of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s brother Sarat Chandra Bose, explained that the decision was taken on the advice of Rabindranath Tagore to ensure unity and prevent religious divisions within the nationalist movement.
“Subhas Chandra Bose and Jawaharlal Nehru consulted Rabindranath Tagore on this sensitive matter during the All India Congress Committee meeting in Calcutta in 1937. On Tagore’s advice, only the first part of the song, which celebrates the national splendour, would be performed at national gatherings,” Bose said in the video.
Bose added that this period marked the convergence of various factions within the Congress, with Mahatma Gandhi appointing Subhas Chandra Bose as Congress president and Jawaharlal Nehru’s successor in 1938.
Posting the video, Ramesh wrote: “Sugata Bose, one of India’s finest historians, further exposes the PM’s selective interpretation of history,” highlighting that Bose is a Harvard professor, director of the Netaji Research Bureau, and former Lok Sabha MP.
The remarks come a day after PM Modi criticised the Congress for allegedly fragmenting “Vande Mataram” to appease communal concerns, asserting that Nehru had bowed to Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s objections.
During the parliamentary debate on the 150th anniversary of “Vande Mataram,” Congress leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, accused the government of politicising the song, rewriting history, and creating controversy ahead of next year’s West Bengal assembly elections. Priyanka Gandhi called the PM’s selective quoting of Nehru a “big sin” and urged the government to understand the true historical context of the national song.
The exchange underscores the sharp political divide over “Vande Mataram,” with the BJP highlighting claims of appeasement politics and the Congress defending Nehru and the party’s historical decisions.
