Overview
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi led a special Lok Sabha discussion marking 150 years of Vande Mataram, accusing Jawaharlal Nehru and the Congress of fragmenting the song in 1937 and linking its centenary to the Emergency.
- Modi cited a Nehru letter to Subhas Chandra Bose warning the song could irritate Muslims, while asserting the British had banned its printing and singing during the freedom movement.
- Opposition leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Gaurav Gogoi defended Nehru’s record and said the BJP is politicising the commemoration to divert attention from price rise and unemployment, with Bengal polls in view.
- Proceedings were allotted 10 hours in the Lok Sabha with three hours for the NDA, and the Rajya Sabha is slated to take up the discussion on Tuesday with Amit Shah expected to open for the government.
- BJP MPs greeted the Prime Minister with chants referencing victory in Bihar and turning to West Bengal, as figures including Rajnath Singh and Akhilesh Yadav traded sharply different readings of the song’s history and meaning.