New Delhi: BJP National Spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi on Thursday slammed the Congress and its government in Karnataka for going against a legislation passed by Parliament that stipulates rendering all the paragraphs in Vande Mataram as penned by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee when sung at any government programmes or official functions.
Pointing out that state songs in Opposition-ruled states like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu also mention bowing before the motherland, he sought to know if raising issues over the National Song does not mean surrendering before extremist and secessionist forces.
“Congress stands alienated from its alliance partners on the issue of singing Vande Mataram, with only the Muslim League standing in its support,” alleged the BJP leader. Trivedi was referring to the Congress recently criticising even its ally National Conference over the singing of the full version of the National Song at the inauguration of the International Film Festival of Jammu and Kashmir.
National Conference leader and state Chief Minister Omar Abdullah reacted, saying it is now a statutory requirement and has to be followed.
Trivedi also hit out at the Karnataka government for passing an order directing that only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram be sung at official events in the state. “Every citizen of India knows that no state Assembly can pass a law against a legislation passed by Parliament,” he stressed. “This (state order) is not illegal and comical but also mirrors the inherent character of the Congress party that it wants to keep the Constitution in its pocket,” he charged.
He also recalled a comment from Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) National General Secretary Elyas Muhammad Thumbe that they had an “understanding” with the Congress during the 2018 Karnataka Assembly elections to avoid a split in minority votes. Since he made this statement in the 2023 state polls, the BJP has targeted the Congress for alleged links with the controversial outfit.
Adding that the Congress party has denied this, Trivedi pointed out that SDPI, the alleged political arm of the banned Islamist organisation Popular Front of India (PFI), “first spoke of contesting 100 Assembly seats, then 54 and then contested in only 16 seats and fought so valiantly that it lost all, and even had their security deposit forfeited”. This, he insisted, strengthened doubts about a tacit poll understanding between the two.
Trivedi pointed to Karnataka’s song hailing the state as mother, as did the state song of Tamil Nadu. This dichotomy shows the opposition is not over social or religious issues, but rather goes to show total surrender before extremism and secessionism and the Muslim League, he claimed.
He also took a swipe at the state leadership of the Congress in Kerala, where the party is now in power, heading an alliance. “In Kerala, incumbent Chief Minister V. D. Satheesan on 7 February, 2026, according to media reports, gave a statement that he has no reservation about getting the support of Jamaat e Islami there and is openly running a government with the Muslim League,” he added.
The Congress party has taken a rigid stance on singing only the first two paragraphs of the song at all party events, citing it as a decision made in 1937 as advised by Rabindranath Tagore. This has been a subject of controversy, with the BJP terming it an act of appeasement and a violation of law.
(IANS)
