Madurai, Aug 29 (PTI) Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday lashed out at the BJP for what he called its “sudden affection” for Vande Mataram and said those who do not know its history passed a Bill related to it in Parliament.
He asked the BJP whether the Vande Matram had been sung by the Hindu Mahasabha and the RSS members during the freedom movement.
Chidambaram, also a Rajya Sabha MP, said the row related to Vande Mataram was unnecessary, and alleged that the controversy around it was a deliberate move of the BJP-led Centre.
Speaking at an event on the recently concluded monsoon session of Parliament and the passage of 12 Bills, the former union minister said one of them was related to Vande Mataram (Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026).
In this context, Chidambaram alleged that prior to 1947, neither the Bharatiya Janata Party nor its ideological predecessors –the Hindu Mahasabha and the RSS– were aware of Vande Mataram.
He said: “I ask the Bharatiya Janata Party, in any single place during the 100-year freedom struggle, point out anywhere the Hindu Mahasabha, the Jana Sangh, or the RSS ever sang Vande Mataram. If they had sung it, would not there be a record? Would not there be news about it? It would have appeared in the newspapers. It would have been recorded.” Nowhere, at no time, on no day did the Hindu Mahasabha, the RSS, or the Jana Sangh ever sing Vande Mataram. In fact, for many years after independence, they did not even hoist the tricolor flag in Nagpur. It is only for the past 10 to 12 years that they have been hoisting the national flag on Independence Day. Until then, they only hoisted the saffron flag, he alleged.
He asked: “So, why this sudden affection for Vande Mataram? Vande Mataram has a history. Those who do not know that history are passing this law.” Tracing the history of Vande Mataram, he said it became popular after it was sung by Rabindranath Tagore and in the south after Subramania Bharathi took it up in his work. Of the six stanzas, only the first two stanzas praise the nation. The third, fourth, fifth, and sixth stanzas praise various Hindu deities.
“I am not saying that is wrong. But a controversy arose (in pre-independent India) over whether to sing all six stanzas or just the two stanzas,” he said.
Chidambaram detailed Pandit Nehru-led deliberations in the Congress Working Committee and explained that it was unanimously decided later by the party to sing only the two stanzas after Rabindranath Tagore wrote to Nehru that singing the first two stanzas is sufficient.
He said: “A long discussion (in the Central Working Committee of Congress) took place in that meeting. Mahatma Gandhi was present, Rajendra Prasad was present, Jawaharlal Nehru was present, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose was present, and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was present…Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was there. Everyone was present. They unanimously came to a decision, singing two stanzas is enough.” After passing that resolution, only the Congress party sang it. “Now, when people sing all six stanzas, is anyone actually pronouncing those words ? Congress members know the two stanzas. Other parties do not even know these two stanzas. In particular, the BJP does not know these two stanzas, he claimed.
Even in Congress party meetings, only senior leaders like Mallikarjun Kharge can sing both stanzas completely. Today’s student Congress and youth Congress members are trying to memorise them.
“We aren’t saying no, they are making an effort. They try to sing both stanzas. But nobody knows all the stanzas,” he claimed.
The veteral Congress leader said the national anthem ‘Jana gana mana’ has to be sung in 52 seconds. The two stanzas of Vande Mataram takes about 12 to 15 seconds to sing. Now, if all six stanzas are sung, it takes three minutes. If Tamil Thai Valthu (Invocation to Mother Tamil) is sung, followed by Vande Mataram, and then Jana gana mana, everyone will have to stand for five minutes.
Summing up, he said: “All of this is an unnecessary controversy. They deliberately brought up this controversy and passed a bill for it.” Government introduced this bill at 1:30 pm and passed it by 1:35.
“These are all unnecessary controversies and non-issue,” he emphasised.
Of the 12 bills passed, two were “mischievous” and one of them was the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026 to amend the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, he alleged.
The Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026 is to amend the Act of 1971 to bring Vande Mataram, within the ambit of Section 3 of The Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971.
It proposes to make it an offence to intentionally prevent the singing of Vande Mataram or cause disturbance to any assembly engaged in its singing, thereby extending legal protection to the national song and making such acts punishable under the Act. PTI VGN VGN ROH
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