Congress has been the proud flagbearer of Vande Mataram: Mallikarjun Kharge

Kharge said in a statement that ‘Vande Mataram’, composed by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, embodies the spirit of Bharat Mata and celebrates the unity and diversity of India

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), accusing them of “glorifying their organisations over the nation” adding that the National Song doesn’t find any mention in its texts or literature.

Kharge alleged that “the RSS and Sangh Parivar supported the British against Indians in the national movement. (PTI file photo)

In a social media post marking the 150th anniversary of the country’s National Song Vande Mataram, Kharge highlighted his party’s legacy of upholding the song while calling out the “irony” of the BJP and RSS, which he described as “self-proclaimed guardians of nationalism,” for “never singing” it or the National Anthem in their shakhas or offices.

“Instead, they continue to sing Namaste Sada Vatsale, a song glorifying their organisations, not the nation. Since its founding in 1925, the RSS has avoided Vande Mataram, despite its universal reverence. Not once in its texts or literature does the song find mention,” Kharge wrote on X.

“The Congress Party, on the other hand, takes immense pride in both Vande Mataram and Jana Gana Mana. Both songs are sung with reverence at every Congress gathering and event, symbolising India’s unity and pride,” he added.

Kharge further accused the RSS and Sangh Parivar of “supporting the British against Indians in the National Movement.”

“(They) did not raise the National Flag for 52 years, abused the Constitution of India, burnt effigies of Bapu and Babasaheb Ambedkar, and, in the words of Sardar Patel, were involved in Gandhiji’s assassination,” he said.

Recalling the song’s historical journey, Kharge noted that Vande Mataram was first sung at the 1896 Congress session in Calcutta, featured in Lala Lajpat Rai’s publications, appeared on the flag designed by Bhikaji Cama and was included in Pandit Ram Prasad Bismil’s Kranti Geetanjali, before being adopted as the National Song at the 1937 Faizpur Congress session.

“From 1896 to the present day, every Congress meeting, big or small, from a Plenary Session or a Block Level meeting, has sung Vande Mataram with pride and patriotism as a tribute to the people of India. The Congress Party reaffirms its unshakable faith in Vande Mataram, the eternal song of our motherland, the clarion call of our unity, and the voice of India’s undying spirit,” he said.

Meanwhile, BJP national spokesperson CR Kesavan alleged that the Congress “committed the historic sin and blunder” by “deliberately” removing stanzas of Vande Mataram that hailed Goddess Durga on religious grounds.

“It is imperative for our younger generation to know how the Congress party, brazenly pandering to its communal agenda under the Presidentship of Nehru, adopted only a truncated Vande Mataram as the party’s national song in its 1937 Faizpur Session… Congress under Nehru, citing religious grounds, deliberately removed stanzas of Vande Mataram which hailed Goddess Ma Durga,” Kesavan wrote on X.