Congress says it will sing only first two stanzas of ‘Vande Mataram’

The Congress on Wednesday said that the party would sing only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram at its functions, citing a Congress Working Committee resolution from 1937.

The resolution had adopted the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram as the national song and omitted the remaining four as they invoked Hindu goddesses Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati.

There was “no confusion” about the Congress’ position, said party leader KC Venugopal at a press conference after a meeting of the working committee on Wednesday.

The party will “abide by the decisions” taken by Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Rabindranath Tagore, Subhas Chandra Bose and Sardar Patel to limit the rendition of Vande Mataram to the first two stanzas.

A row had broken out after the Bharatiya Janata Party alleged that Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi disrupted the singing of Vande Mataram at the party’s Independence Day event in Delhi.

A video from the function showed Sonia Gandhi gesturing and speaking to a party worker while the full version of Vande Mataram was being played. It was not clear what she was saying.

On Monday, the Delhi Police said that it was looking into a complaint alleging that the two Congress leaders intentionally obstructed the singing of the national song.

This came days after the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Amendment Act, which criminalises insults to...

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