Overview
- The Congress Working Committee met on Wednesday, Aug 19, and formally resolved that party events will use only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram, citing a 1937 party resolution.
- Parliament passed the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Act, 2026, and the Home Ministry issued guidance requiring all six stanzas at official or government‑sponsored functions, creating a potential legal clash with the party’s choice.
- BJP leaders seized on a viral Independence Day video to accuse Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge of trying to disrupt the song and filed complaints seeking FIRs, increasing pressure on police and courts to act.
- Congress leaders defended the move by pointing to freedom‑era practice and figures such as Gandhi and Nehru who limited public renditions to two stanzas because later verses contain Hindu religious imagery some communities find exclusionary.
- The CWC paired the Vande Mataram stance with a plan for expanded grassroots campaigns on exam paper leaks and alleged Ram temple donation irregularities, a strategy likely to deepen political polarisation and keep the issue central to the opposition’s mobilisation.