Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday, August 18, challenged the Narendra Modi government to file a case against him, as well as Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, if singing the version of Vande Mataram traditionally used by the Congress amounts to an offence under the amended national honour law.
The Congress has traditionally sang only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram following its 1937 CWC resolution. The national song, written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, had remained controversial over its religious references. While its first two stanzas are an invocation of the motherland, the later stanzas describe the motherland using imagery associated with Hindu goddesses, including Durga, leading to objections by a section of Muslims.
During the freedom movement, leaders including Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore had supported limiting public renditions to the first two stanzas to not alienate the Muslims.
Kharge made the remarks amid an escalating political row over the rendition of the national song and ahead of the Congress Working Committee’s (CWC) meeting on Wednesday.
“I sang the same Vande Mataram that Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru sang. I sang the same Vande Mataram that they have been singing for 18 years... I sang what Vajpayee sang,” Kharge said.
“If singing it is a crime, then file a case against Gandhiji, Nehruji and Vallabhbhai Patel,” he added.
Kharge argued that the Congress’s position on Vande Mataram was based on a decision taken decades ago and that a government could not unilaterally establish a different version as the national standard.
“We have simply continued the practice that has been in place for 90 years,” he said.
Kharge’s remarks come days after Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Kharge were accused by the BJP of attempting to stop Vande Mataram midway through the Congress’s Independence Day celebrations at its headquarters in Delhi.
A viral video appeared to show the two leaders speaking and gesturing while the song was being played. BJP leaders alleged that Sonia Gandhi was signalling for the rendition to be stopped.
The Congress had initially rejected the allegation, saying Sonia Gandhi was asking for a chair for Kharge, who had been standing for some time. The full rendition was completed, after which Kharge hoisted the national flag.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah subsequently accused the Congress of disrespecting Vande Mataram because of “vote-bank greed” and demanded an apology. BJP president Nitin Nabin also alleged that Sonia Gandhi had signalled to stop the song.
The controversy deepened following Parliament’s passage of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Act, 2026, which extends statutory protection to Vande Mataram. Under the amended law, intentionally preventing or disrupting the singing or playing of the national song can attract imprisonment of up to three years, a fine, or both.
Against this backdrop, the Congress has indicated that its programmes will continue to feature only the first two stanzas. Karnataka Congress chief B K Hariprasad has also said the state unit will follow the same practice.
The Congress maintains that its practice of singing only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram is rooted in a 1937 CWC resolution. The party has argued that leaders of the freedom movement, including Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore, supported limiting public renditions to the first two stanzas because the later verses contain religious imagery.
The question of Vande Mataram is likely to come up for discussion at the CWC meeting, although it was not formally on the agenda, according to the Indian Express. Some within the Congress have reportedly urged caution, given the nationalistic overtones of the controversy.
The CWC is also expected to discuss the Congress’s strategy on several issues that the party believes have put the BJP-led government under pressure, including student unrest, unemployment, alleged irregularities involving Ram temple donations, ethanol blending and reports of renewed tensions along the China border in Arunachal Pradesh.
The meeting will be the first since the student protests at Jantar Mantar that culminated in the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. While the Congress has maintained its distance from the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), the party wants to connect the student protests with broader concerns over jobs and education.