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Vande Mataram debate: PM Modi says Congress and its then leaders disrespected national song by dropping 4 stanzas; Priyanka cites chronology, questions relevance of discussion
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in the Lok Sabha on Monday. (PTI)
The winter session of Parliament saw heated speeches as the House participated in the discussion on 150th anniversary of India’s national song Vande Mataram on Monday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened the speeches for the Centre, upholding the sentiment behind the song written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay amid the freedom struggle and underscored how the Congress and its then leaders disrespected it on several occasions in the past. The Opposition countered by questioning the relevance of the discussion.
On November 7, Modi had launched year-long celebrations to commemorate the 150th year of Vande Mataram, aimed especially at youth and students to deepen awareness of the song’s significance.
PM Modi: Nehru betrayed Vande Mataram by echoing Jinnah’s concerns, dropping stanzas
PM Modi said the first PM of India, the late Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, had betrayed Vande Mataram by echoing Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s communal concerns and fragmenting the national song that put India on the path of politics of appeasement, leading to its Partition.
Modi highlighted how Vande Mataram inspired the nation, energised the freedom struggle and became a symbol of national resolve which prompted Mahatma Gandhi to liken it to the national anthem. Penned by Chattopadhyay in 1875, Modi said Vande Mataram challenged the British Empire that was unsettled by the freedom struggle of 1857 and heaping injustices upon India and forcing its people into submission.
Modi said Muslim League leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah first stepped up his opposition to Vande Mataram on October 15, 1937, from Lucknow. Nehru wrote to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose five days later, sharing Jinnah’s sentiments and observing that Vande Mataram’s ‘Anandmath’ background had the potential to “irritate the Muslims”, Modi said.
“Instead of firmly countering the baseless statements of the Muslim League and condemning them, Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Congress president, did not reaffirm his and the Congress party’s commitment to Vande Mataram, but began questioning Vande Mataram itself,” he said.
Modi said it was ironic that Bankim Chandra’s Vande Mataram underwent a review of its worth in his home state of Bengal at the Kolkata session of the Congress Working Committee in 1937, leaving the country in a state of shock and prompting patriots to take out processions against the decision of the Congress. “Unfortunately, on October 26, 1937, the Congress compromised on Vande Mataram, fragmenting it in their decision. This decision was cloaked under the guise of social harmony, but history bears witness that INC bowed before the Muslim League and acted under its pressure, adopting a politics of appeasement,” the prime minister said.
“Under the pressure of appeasement politics, the Congress bent and agreed to break Vande Mataram to pieces. Therefore one day, it had to bend for the Partition of India,” he said.
The prime minister said whenever India faced challenges, it has responded inspired by sentiments enshrined in Vande Mataram.
Modi lamented that the Constitution was “throttled” and the nation chained by the Emergency when the national song Vande Mataram completed 100 years. The prime minister also noted that Vande Mataram stood like a rock and inspired unity despite British oppression.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra: What is the need for debate? Why not discuss today’s issues?
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said the government pushed for a debate on Vande Mataram as the West Bengal assembly polls were approaching and that it wanted to divert attention from the problems people were facing. She hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he is not the prime minister he used to be as his “self-confidence was decreasing and policies were weakening the country”.
“This debate is strange; this song has made a place in people’s hearts; so what is the need for a debate? Why are we having a debate on the national song? What debate can there be on it, ” Priyanka Gandhi asked.
The Congress MP from Wayanad slammed the BJP for targeting first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and alleged that the government wanted this debate to make fresh allegations against those who fought for the country’s freedom. “Since you keep talking about Nehru, let’s do one thing, let’s assign a time for a discussion, list out all the insults against him… debate it and let’s close the chapter for once and all…After that, let’s talk about today’s issues – price rise and unemployment,” she said.
#WATCH | During debate in Lok Sabha on 150 years of ‘Vande Mataram, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra says, “Our Prime Minister has been in the House for twelve years, I have been here for only twelve months. Still, I have a small advice, a few months ago he had released a list… pic.twitter.com/LsUGCIl15a— ANI (@ANI) December 8, 2025
The Congress leader also listed the “chronology” of the national song Vande Mataram and cited correspondence between Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose to rebut Prime Minister Modi’s charge that the Congress indulged in politics of appeasement over Vande Mataram. “Bankim Chandra Chatterjee wrote the song in 1875, when he wrote the first two stanzas and in 1882, published it in Anand Math after adding four stanzas,” she said.
In 1896, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore sang it for the first time at a Congress session, she said.
She also cited correspondence between Nehru and Bose and rebutted PM Modi’s charge that Congress indulged in appeasement. She said that questioning the decision of having the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram as the national song was akin to questioning the Constituent Assembly and its members.
“In every session of the Congress, Vande Mataram is sung collectively. The question is: Is Vande Mataram sung in BJP-RSS sessions or not? …PM Modi said that in 1896, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore sang this song for the first time in a convention, but he did not tell which session it was. Was it a session of the Hindu Mahasabha or RSS? Why was he hesitant to say that it was Congress’s session,” she asked.
Rajnath Singh: Time for unbiased evaluation of Vande Mataram
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said the time had come for an unbiased evaluation of ‘Vande Mataram’ and asserted that the entire song and the ‘Anand Math’ book were never anti-Islam, but reflected the popular sentiments against the Nawab of Bengal and British imperialism.
“Everyone has heard the first two stanzas of ‘Vande Mataram‘, but many are not familiar with the rest. Most parts of the original version have been forgotten, and those stanzas depict the essence of India.”
He noted that “Vande Mataram” is complete in itself, but there have been attempts to render it incomplete. He called for a return to the song’s glory.
#WATCH | During debate in Lok Sabha on 150 years of ‘Vande Mataram, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh says, “It is also important to understand the injustice done to Vande Mataram so that future generations can better understand the mindset and thinking of those who did this. The… pic.twitter.com/da7BYPgbPb— ANI (@ANI) December 8, 2025
Anurag Thakur: Gandhi family is afraid of discussing Vande Mataram
BJP MP Anurag Thakur on Monday criticised Congress MPs Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for not attending Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address in the Lok Sabha, saying the Gandhi family is afraid to discuss Vande Mataram.
Thakur said, “Prime Minister Modi initiated a discussion on Vande Mataram. In the 100th anniversary year of Vande Mataram, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi imposed an Emergency and destroyed the Constitution. PM Modi, in his address, kept forward the history and cultural significance of Vande Mataram. It will become an important document for the coming generations, telling how Vande Mataram united the nation.”
Hailing Vande Mataram, the BJP MP said that it is the song of the nation’s soul and is a “maha matra”.
Vande Mataram a reflection of India’s ethos: Om Birla
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday described “Vande Mataram” as a reflection of India’s harmony and strength, as the House took up a day-long discussion on the national song penned by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee. In his opening remarks, Birla said that as the country commemorates the 150-year glorious journey of ‘Vande Mataram’, it remains etched in the heart of every Indian even today. “Its immortal sound, each line of which reflects the unique harmony of India’s nature, motherhood, beauty and strength.”
The BJP-led NDA government was allotted three hours for its participation in the Lok Sabha debate, while a total of 10 hours has been earmarked for the entire discussion, as the debate will also take place in the upper house, the Rajya Sabha, on Tuesday, December 9.
The 6th Session of the 18th Lok Sabha and the 269th Session of the Rajya Sabha commenced on Monday, December 1, marking the beginning of the Winter Session of Parliament. The session will conclude on December 19.
With PTI, ANI Inputs
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