As the country celebrated its 80th Independence Day, the complete full national song was played at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi on Saturday. However, a video is being circulated on social media, with some users pointing out that Rahul and Sonia had signalled it to stop. However, the party later clarified that Sonia was only asking for a chair for Kharge, who continued standing during the flag hoisting ceremony.
BJP's Sudhanshu Trivedi demands apology
Meanwhile, amidst the controversy over the Vande Mataram video, BJP's Sudhanshu Trivedi demanded apology from the Congress party, saying, "we condemn this conduct of the Congress party's top leadership and expect the Congress party to apologize to the nation for it.”
In a post on X, Trivedi wrote, “Today, on Independence Day, when "Vande Mataram" was sung in its entirety in keeping with the sentiments of millions of Indians, the sight of Congress's supreme leader Sonia Gandhi, super president Rahul Gandhi, and current president Mallikarjun Kharge conversing with one another and displaying disrespect at the Congress office at the very same time is utterly bizarre, ironic, and unfortunate.
This is an insult to the national song "Vande Mataram," which has hurt the feelings of millions of Indians.”
What BJP's Amit Malviya said?
Another BJP leader Amit Malviya criticised the Congress Party over the Vande Mataram video, saying, “for decades, the Gandhis and the Congress have displayed an uneasy relationship with the idea of a culturally confident, civilisationally rooted India. That discomfort stood exposed, ironically, on Independence Day.”
“For the first time, the entire ‘Vande Mataram’ was sung at the Congress headquarters on Independence Day. After the initial stanzas of Vande Mataram were sung, Sonia Gandhi became agitated and asked for the rendition to be stopped rather than played in full. Rahul Gandhi too appeared to signal that it should end. They were told to let it continue. The message was clear: the complete National Song is now to be respected under the new legal framework, and intentional obstruction or disturbance can invite serious consequences. They eventually fell in line, and Vande Mataram was sung in full,” he said through X post.
Full 'Vande Mataram' played at Red Fort I-Day event
The full 'Vande Mataram' was played at the Red Fort on Saturday. It was played by an Army band after which PM Modi hoisted the national flag, and then the national anthem was recited.
'Vande Mataram' was initially composed independently and later included in Chatterjee's novel 'Anandamath'. It was first sung by Rabindranath Tagore at the 1896 Congress Session in Calcutta (now Kolkata). The chant 'Vande Mataram' as a political slogan was first used on August 7, 1905, according to a note '150 Years of Vande Mataram: A Melody That Became a Movement', shared by the government on November 6 last year.
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