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BJP passes resolution to protect 'Vande Mataram', condemns Congress move to sing 2 stanzas
The BJP said the full national song, comprising six stanzas, represents India’s national consciousness and the legacy of the freedom struggle.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday passed a resolution condemning the Congress Working Committee's decision to limit the singing of ‘Vande Mataram’ to its first two stanzas at Congress programmes. It resolved to protect the honour of the full version of the national song.
The resolution was taken at the party meeting chaired by national president Nitin Nabin and attended by the newly appointed national office-bearers. The BJP leaders recited all six stanzas of the national song ahead of the meeting held at the party headquarters.
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BJP resolution on Vande Mataram
The BJP said the full national song, comprising six stanzas, represents India’s national consciousness and the legacy of the freedom struggle. The saffron party vowed to oppose attempts to subject it to communal pressures, political appeasement or vote-bank politics.
The party also announced a nationwide campaign to highlight the history, significance and legacy of Vande Mataram, with a special focus on educating the younger generation.
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Citing Mahatma Gandhi's statement where he described Vande Mataram as "anti-imperialist slogan" with "purest national sentiment", the BJP shared plans to disseminated this message across the country.
"The words of Vande Mataram were once so powerful that an empire was terrified of them. The British tried to suppress them because they awakened resistance. Generations adopted them as a mantra of freedom and national pride. This legacy cannot be reduced to vote-bank arithmetic," the resolution said.
Controversy over Congress' decision to sing only 2 stanzas
On Wednesday, the Congress Working Committee also decided that the national song would be sung at party events, citing the party's own 1937 resolution. However, the party decided to sing only first stanzas of Vande Mataram.
The decision led to massive outrage by the BJP, which also accused Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party parliamentary chairperson Sonia Gandhi of conversing while the national song was being played during Independence Day celebrations on August 15, and demanded a public apology.
After the CWC meeting, Congress MP KC Venugopal said the party's stand on the recitation of Vande Mataram was clear and that it would follow the decisions taken by Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in 1937.
