New Delhi: A controversy has erupted over the rendition of Vande Mataram at an event, which was also attended by National Conference Leaders, including Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
While Congress objected to the rendition of the full Vande Mataram at the event in Srinagar in the presence of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Jammu and Kashmir National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, its ally made it clear that the grand old party couldn’t dictate terms to its alliance partners. The BJP took a potshot at this incident, launching a “Muslim League” attack on the Congress.
Tagging a video of the event, Congress general secretary in-charge organisation, KC Venugopal, advised ally National Conference to stand with the party in sticking to the truncated version of the song.
“The full version of Vande Mataram sits uneasily with the syncretic and pluralist ethos that our freedom fighters envisioned and nurtured for India,” he posted on X.
He added, “For us, the considered judgment of Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru, Sardar Patel, Subhash Chandra Bose, Rajendra Prasad, Acharya Narendra Dev, Maulana Azad, Sarojini Naidu and J B Kripalani – shaped in no small part by the counsel of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore – remains paramount.”
On the other hand, the National Conference insisted that Congress couldn’t dictate terms to its allies.
“As alliance partner you can’t dictate terms whether to sing or how much to sing. Venugopal has the right to tweet, but can’t impose. It is people’s choice. We are against imposing anything on people,” NC leader Bashir Ahmed said, as quoted by NDTV.
Meanwhile, BJP MP and spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said the party’s objection to singing the full version of the song, left no doubt that it had become a new Muslim League.
