Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a pointed attack on the Congress during a Lok Sabha debate marking 150 years of Vande Mataram, alleging that past leaders of the party, including Jawaharlal Nehru, weakened the status of the national song to appease communal sentiments. Modi cited a letter Nehru allegedly wrote to Subhas Chandra Bose, expressing concern that Vande Mataram might “provoke and irritate Muslims,” an approach the Prime Minister compared to Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s stance on the song.
Modi told the House that this position was strikingly at odds with the song’s origin in Bengal and its long association with India’s freedom struggle. He said the Congress’ hesitation toward Vande Mataram eventually sowed divisions that contributed to the tensions leading to Partition. He also linked the national song to the period of the Emergency declared by Indira Gandhi in 1975, stating that when Vande Mataram turned 100 years old, the Constitution was “throttled” and patriotic voices silenced.
Calling the song a force that “energised” the freedom movement, Modi spoke of how it became a rallying cry despite British attempts to suppress it. He recalled how colonial authorities promoted “God Save the Queen” after 1857, while Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay responded with Vande Mataram, which continued to unify the nation even through the partition of Bengal in 1905.
The Prime Minister criticised the Congress’ 1937 decision to limit national gatherings to the first two stanzas of the song, a move influenced by leaders who felt later verses were too religiously symbolic. Modi argued that this step marked the beginning of political compromises that diluted the song’s significance. Congress leaders, however, have previously refuted these charges, noting that Nehru had described the lyrics as harmless and culturally rooted rather than religious.
Modi framed the 150th anniversary as an opportunity to restore the respect and cultural prominence of Vande Mataram. Linking it with other major national commemorations—including anniversaries of the Constitution, Sardar Patel, Birsa Munda, and Guru Teg Bahadur—he said that celebrating the national song inside Parliament was a “historic privilege” and a moment for the country to reaffirm its unity and heritage.
