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The political row over Vande Mataram intensified on Sunday, August 16 after Union Home Minister Amit Shah accused Congress leader Sonia Gandhi of attempting to stop the full rendition of the national song during the party’s Independence Day celebrations and demanded an apology from the party.
The Union Home Minister’s remarks came a day after a viral video from the Congress headquarters in Delhi appeared to show Sonia Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge gesturing towards others while Vande Mataram was being sung. BJP leaders alleged that Sonia Gandhi was signalling for the song to be stopped. The Congress has denied the charge, saying Sonia Gandhi was asking for a chair for the Congress national president, who had been standing for some time.
Speaking at Nimbahera in Rajasthan’s Chittorgarh, where he unveiled a statue of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his death anniversary, Amit Shah accused the Congress of failing to respect Vande Mataram because of “vote-bank greed”.
“Vande Mataram was being sung at the Congress party headquarters. During the song, Congress leader Soniaji asked the Congress president to stop the song. We all watched it on TV,” Amit Shah alleged.
He said the song had inspired thousands of freedom fighters to face imprisonment, lathi charges and even death during the freedom struggle.
“140 crore people of the country are watching you. The people of this country will never forgive this sin you have committed,” Amit Shah said, demanding that Congress workers apologise to Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and the people of India.
BJP president Nitin Nabin also accused Gandhi of signalling to stop the song, calling the incident evidence of the Congress’s alleged “distorted thinking”.
“When the national song was being sung at the Congress headquarters, Sonia Gandhiji signalled to stop it. This is no coincidence, but the bitter truth of the Congress’s distorted thinking,” Nabin said in a post on X.
BJP national spokesperson Pradip Bhandari went further, accusing the Congress of insulting not only freedom fighters but also the Constitution and India's sovereignty and integrity. He linked the alleged incident to the party's opposition to the abrogation of Article 370 and described it as evidence of an “intellectual Naxal ecosystem”.
The Congress, however, has maintained that there was no attempt to stop the song. Congress MP Jairam Ramesh has previously issued a clarification saying that the full version of Vande Mataram was sung at the party headquarters and that Gandhi was merely asking for a chair for Kharge.
“There was no attempt to stop it. Since the Congress President was standing for a long time, Sonia ji was asking for a chair to be brought for him,” the Congress general secretary said.
The full rendition was completed at the Congress event, following which Kharge hoisted the national flag.
The BJP's allegations come days after Parliament passed the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026, extending statutory protection to Vande Mataram. Under the amended law, intentionally preventing the singing of the National Song or causing a disturbance to an assembly engaged in singing it can attract imprisonment of up to three years, a fine, or both.
