Overview
- Parliament scheduled special 10-hour discussions in both Houses, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi opening the Lok Sabha debate on December 8 and Union Home Minister Amit Shah speaking in the Rajya Sabha on December 9.
- Modi cited Jawaharlal Nehru’s 1937 correspondence about concerns the song could irritate Muslims and linked the song’s centenary to the Emergency, accusing Congress of having “fragmented” Vande Mataram under pressure from the Muslim League.
- Shah said those who voiced Vande Mataram were jailed during Indira Gandhi’s Emergency and argued that limiting the song to two stanzas marked the start of appeasement politics tied to Partition.
- Congress leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Gaurav Gogoi, accused the government of politicising the tribute, defended the 1937 decision as historically contextual, and noted Tagore’s role and the Constituent Assembly’s approval of the song.
- BJP speakers highlighted colonial-era restrictions on singing and printing Vande Mataram and framed the anniversary as a chance to restore its public stature, while no cross-party resolution emerged from the exchanges.