Vande Mataram debate: PM Modi slams Nehru ; ‘His letter to Netaji said song could incite Muslims…’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a sharp attack on the Congress during a Lok Sabha debate marking the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram, accusing former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru of echoing Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s opposition to the national song and pandering to communal concerns. Opening the discussion, Modi cited letters written by Nehru to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in 1937 questioning whether Vande Mataram could offend Muslims, calling it the beginning of a divisive approach that later culminated in Partition. The Prime Minister also linked the song’s centenary to the 1975 Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi, saying the Constitution was “throttled” when Vande Mataram turned 100. Reiterating the BJP’s long-standing criticism of Congress for adopting only the first two stanzas of the song in 1937, Modi said the decision weakened national unity. Calling the anniversary a “historic moment,” he described Vande Mataram as the mantra that energised India’s freedom movement and stood “like a rock” against British oppression. Modi urged Parliament to seize the opportunity to restore the song’s full glory at its 150-year milestone.