New Delhi, Aug 18: Amid the ongoing controversies over the rendition of Vande Mataram at the party headquarters and then at party’s event in Goa, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday questioned the basis of a complaint filed against party leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and said that they sang the same song that was once rendered by Mahatma Gandhi and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
The remarks of the Congress president came after the BJP attacked Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi for allegedly signaling to stop the full rendition of the national song during the Independence Day function at the party headquarters on Saturday.
Kharge had unfurled the Tricolour at the party headquarters during the Independence Day celebrations, followed by a rendition of Vande Mataram.
Speaking to reporters here, Kharge said: “Well, look, what complaint will they file? We sang the same Vande Mataram that Mahatma Gandhi sang. We sang what Jawaharlal Nehru sang. For the last 18 years, we have sung what they sang, including what their central government under Vajpayee sang. And for 12 years, as Chief Minister, he (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) also sang the same Vande Mataram that he has been singing all these years.”
“If this is a crime, then they have been committing this crime for 18 years. If this is the same crime, then file a case against Mahatma Gandhi. If this is the same crime, file a case against Nehru,” he added.
Lamenting at the BJP, Kharge said that the Congress had passed a resolution on national songs even before many of its current critics were born.
Kharge said the Congress had passed a resolution on Vande Mataram decades ago and questioned whether the practice should change every time a new government comes to power.
“Tomorrow, another government will come. If they say something else, will that be it? We have done exactly what has been going on for 90 years,” he said.
As the controversy intensified, a complaint was filed against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi with the Delhi Police, alleging the two leaders disrupted the rendition of the National Song.
Citing video footage of the episode circulating on social media, the complaint seeks action against the Gandhis over their alleged conduct during the ‘Vande Mataram‘ rendition.
However, the allegations have not been established by the Delhi Police.
The Congress maintained that the full version of ‘Vande Mataram’ was sung at the Independence Day event, adding that Sonia Gandhi was merely asking for a chair for Kharge, who had been standing for a while.
Penned by pre-Independence poet Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, ‘Vande Mataram’ was adopted as the national song in 1937 and had played a decisive role in shaping the country’s freedom movement, while also mobilising the masses to fight for independence.
However, the last four paragraphs of the song were skipped as they had references to Hindu goddesses.
In February this year, the Centre made it mandatory to sing ‘Vande Mataram’ in its entirety at public gatherings, schools, and official government functions.
