Nitin Nabin Slams Congress Over Alleged Disrespect to Vande Mataram
BJP chief alleges Sonia Gandhi objected to the full rendition of the national song at Congress headquarters; party rejects the charge.
NEW DELHI, Aug 16: BJP president Nitin Nabin on Sunday accused the Congress of disrespecting the national song Vande Mataram, alleging that the party was indulging in what he termed “dirty politics of appeasement”.
In a series of posts on X, Nabin claimed that Congress leader Sonia Gandhi had objected to the singing of the complete version of Vande Mataram during an Independence Day programme at the party headquarters on Saturday.
Nabin described the alleged incident as evidence of what he called the Congress’ “distorted thinking” and said the party had failed to show due respect to the national song even decades after Independence.
The BJP chief also targeted the Congress government in Kerala, alleging that Vande Mataram was completely omitted from the state’s Independence Day celebrations.
According to Nabin, the alleged treatment of the song amounted to an insult to the freedom fighters who had sung Vande Mataram during the struggle for Independence. He accused the Congress of compromising national sentiment for political considerations.
“This is not merely an incident of stopping a song,” Nabin said, claiming that the episode reflected what he described as “dynastic arrogance” within the Congress.
He further alleged that the party was uncomfortable with symbols associated with national pride and questioned its commitment to what he called “Indianness”.
The controversy intensified after several BJP leaders also accused senior Congress figures, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, of showing disrespect towards Vande Mataram during the party’s Independence Day programme.
BJP leaders demanded an apology from the Congress leadership over the alleged incident.
The Congress, however, rejected the allegations. The party denied that Sonia Gandhi had objected to the full rendition of Vande Mataram, saying she had instead asked for a chair for party president Mallikarjun Kharge, who had been standing for some time.
The opposing claims have triggered a political controversy over the singing of the national song at the Congress event, with both parties presenting sharply different accounts of what happened.
