New Delhi: Amid a row over the conduct of senior Congress leaders during the rendition of the national song Vande Mataram, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday launched a scathing attack on the former, saying that their behaviour reflected a “dimagi naxal mindset”.
This comes a day after a video from the Independence Day event at Indira Bhawan, showed Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Sonia Gandhi gesturing and speaking among themselves. Both the senior leaders then called a party worker and apparently instructed him something. Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi was also seen looking towards the senior leaders.
Addressing a press conference, BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari said: “Opposition to Vande Mataram can only be done by people with the mindset of a ‘dimagi Naxal’ ecosystem. This very mindset of the ‘dimagi Naxal’ ecosystem was seen by us yesterday. The opposition of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi towards Vande Mataram on the day of Independence, points towards a ‘dimagi Naxal’ ecosystem mindset.”
Holding printouts of screenshots from the Congress event, he said some of the party’s leaders have attempted to issue a clarification following the incident.
Bhandari was referring to Congress MP Jairam Ramesh’s defence, “There was no attempt to stop it (the song), because the Congress President had been standing for a long time, Sonia Gandhi was saying, ‘Bring a chair for him and place it there’.”
“The Congress didn’t only insult the freedom fighters but also insulted the sovereignty, integrity, and 140 citizens of the country by opposing the rendition of the national song. When Vande Mataram was being rendered at the Congress headquarters, Sonia Gandhi was not only agitated but was behaving in a way as if some crime had been committed,” he said.
Referring to the recent Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Act, 2026, that makes any obstruction to the rendition of the national song a criminal offence, Bhandari accused the Congress leaders of violating the Act and “standing alongside fringe forces”.
Further, the BJP leader asked Congress to apologise within 24 hours for insulting the sentiments of crores of people, if they have “even an iota of patriotism”.
“But they will not apologise because the ringleader and political patron of this entire ‘dimagi Naxal’ ecosystem is Rahul Gandhi. Also, since the Congress government in Kerala has skipped singing Vande Mataram from official events, does this not make it clear that all allegations against the Congress party — that they lack even an iota of nationalism and patriotism — stand proven true?” Pradeep Bhandari remarked.
He added: “This also proves that whatever Jairam Ramesh stated was a blatant, outright lie.”
(IANS)
