Kolkata: CM Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday demanded an apology from Congress parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, accusing her of objecting to the singing of the full version of Vande Mataram at Congress headquarters in Delhi on Independence Day.The demand came after BJP MLA Sumitro Chattopadhyay — a descendant of Vande Mataram’s composer Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay — wrote a letter to Gandhi on the issue, with a copy sent to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.“Yesterday at the Congress central office in Delhi, when the full Vande Mataram was being sung, Sonia Gandhi expressed annoyance, objection and opposition. The people of India have seen this. Insulting Vande Mataram means insulting Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. As the CM of Bengal, I strongly condemn this,” Adhikari said at Nabanna.Chattopadhyay said the family had watched the video and was hurt by what they saw. “At one point it seemed she wanted to stop the song. We later heard she was asking for a chair for Khargeji. As a member of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s family, we are hurt. We can understand that Sonia Gandhi, being an Italian, may not agree to that sentiment. But how can Khargeji allow that?” he said.In his letter to Gandhi, Chattopadhyay wrote: “Vande Mataram is not merely a mantra, but a religion of love for the country. Martyrs like Khudiram Bose embraced death inspired by this mantra. It is not the property of any political party but a collective memory of an entire race. I am humbly, yet firmly, requesting you to introspect and seek an unconditional apology to the people of this country.”Adhikari also announced that the state govt would set up a national standard museum on Vande Mataram to mark the song’s 150th anniversary, and said singing it had been made mandatory in state govt establishments.Bengal Congress president Subhankar Sarkar hit back: “Did Suvendu Adhikari react in the same way when PM Modi addressed Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay as ‘Bankimda’? We expect BJP to answer that first before seeking any explanation from us.”
