Vande Mataram row: BJP chief Nitin Nabin likens Congress to ‘new Muslim League’

BJP president Nitin Nabin on Thursday accused the Congress of insulting the national song Vande Mataram by deciding to sing only its first two stanzas at party events. He likened the Congress to the "new Muslim League," alleging the move was driven by vote-bank politics.

New Delhi:  BJP president Nitin Nabin on Thursday slammed the Congress over its decision to sing only two stanzas of Vande Mataram at their events, saying the opposition party has become the “new Muslim League” for votes.

Nabin, in a post on X in Hindi, said, “This insult to the sacred invocation of ‘Bharat Mata’ is a disdain for those thousands of martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the nation, keeping this very song in their consciousness.”

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The BJP chief’s response came after the Congress Working Committee on Wednesday decided to abide by the 1937 resolution of its highest decision-making body on Vande Mataram, saying only two stanzas of the National Song would be sung at all party events henceforth.

“The Congress has now formalised its insult (to Vande Mataram) into a resolution. Its working committee has decided that only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram will be sung at Congress forums,” Nabin said.

He said, “The Congress has now become the new Muslim League today.”

“This insult to the sacred invocation of ‘Bharat Mata’ is a disdain for those thousands of martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the nation, keeping this very song in their consciousness,” he added.

In a veiled reference to a row over singing of the full version of Vande Mataram during the Independence Day event at the Congress office on August 15, Nabin said the same insult to the national song reflected in an “individual’s conduct” a few days ago. Still, the Congress dismissed it as a “coincidence”.

“Today, that very insult has become the Congress’s policy,” the BJP said, adding, “This is not merely a political defence, but proof of the hunger for that vote bank at the altar of which the Congress has repeatedly mortgaged the nation’s self-respect.”