Overview
- At an event in Honnavar, Karnataka, BJP MP Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri said there had been a demand to make Vande Mataram the anthem and asserted that Jana Gana Mana was composed to welcome the British.
- Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge called the assertion "utter nonsense," noting Tagore wrote Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata in 1911, its first stanza became Jana Gana Mana, and it was first sung at the Indian National Congress on December 27, 1911.
- Kharge cited Tagore's 1937 and 1939 clarifications that the hymn hails the "Dispenser of India's destiny," not any British monarch, while some outlets noted they could not independently verify the exact Kannada phrasing in the viral clip.
- The Prime Minister’s Office said Narendra Modi will inaugurate the 150-year Vande Mataram commemoration at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium on Friday, with a commemorative stamp and coin and a nationwide mass singing at 9:50 am.
- The Culture Ministry outlined a year-long programme from November 7, 2025 to November 7, 2026 with events at 150 locations, as states such as Maharashtra and Uttarakhand issued directives for group renditions and related civic programmes.