NEW DELHI: BJP leaders on Sunday lodged a formal complaint against Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi at the Urwa Police Station in Karnataka. The move escalated a political row over the recitation of Vande Mataram at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi on Independence Day.The controversy followed visuals from the August 15 event showing senior Congress leaders speaking among themselves while the National Song was being recited. BJP leaders alleged that the conduct amounted to disrespect towards the national song, while the Congress rejected the charge and said there was no attempt to stop the rendition.BJP MP Manoj Tiwari accused the Congress leadership of showing discomfort towards the National Song and targeted Sonia Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi.“Yesterday, the Congress revealed its true face to the country and the world. They harbour such hatred for ‘Vande Mataram’… You saw how uncomfortable Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge became yesterday the moment the full version of ‘Vande Mataram’ was played… When they saw it had been recorded on camera, they tried to give explanations,” Tiwari told news agency ANI.The controversy also drew a sharp attack from Union home minister Amit Shah, who raised the issue at a rally in Chittorgarh, Rajasthan. Shah alleged that Sonia had asked party workers to stop the rendition.“Look at their (Congress’s) shamelessness. The anthem Vande Mataram was being sung at the Congress Party headquarters. During the anthem, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi told the Congress President to stop singing. We all just kept watching on TV,” Shah said.He directly addressed Sonia, saying, “Sonia ji, 140 crore people are watching you. This sin you have committed will never be forgiven by the people of this country.”The Congress has maintained that the allegations are baseless. The party said there was no attempt to stop the full version of Vande Mataram and that Sonia Gandhi was only trying to ensure proper arrangements at the event, including asking for a chair for Kharge, who had been standing.The issue has also drawn criticism from VHP spokesperson Vinod Bansal and BJP MLA Umitro Chatterjee, a direct descendant of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. Chatterjee sought an unconditional apology from Sonia Gandhi, saying he wrote as “an ordinary citizen, a patriot” and descendant of the song’s author, expressing “deep pain, emptiness, and anger”. Invoking Sri Aurobindo’s description of Vande Mataram as the “religion of patriotism”, he cited its role in India’s freedom movement and its association with leaders including Khudiram Bose, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Rabindranath Tagore.
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In a first for Independence Day celebrations, ‘Vande Mataram’, with the full six stanzas, was rendered at the Red Fort complex during the historic occasion on August 15, followed by the recitation of the national anthem at the grand event.
