The row began after BJP national general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh shared a video of the Congress event on X and claimed that Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Kharge appeared upset during the singing of the full national song. He remarked that certain mindsets had remained unchanged from before Independence.
BJP spokesperson Gopal Krishna Agarwal alleged that Sonia Gandhi questioned why Vande Mataram was being played, calling the reported incident “utterly shameful”. He said the song symbolises India’s freedom struggle, patriotism and national consciousness, and questioned whether the Congress still upheld the legacy of the independence movement. Agarwal also likened the party’s attitude to an “Emergency mindset”.
The Congress strongly denied the charge. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said there was no attempt to stop the singing of Vande Mataram and that the full version of the national song was rendered at the function held at Indira Bhawan.
Explaining the incident, Ramesh said Sonia Gandhi was asking for a chair because Kharge had been standing for a considerable period. He also referred to a 1937 Congress Working Committee meeting in Calcutta, attended by leaders including Mahatma Gandhi, Subhas Chandra Bose, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. According to Ramesh, following advice from Rabindranath Tagore, the Congress decided that the opening stanzas of Vande Mataram would be sung at Congress sessions, a practice that has continued ever since.
“We have been singing those lines in every session. There is no controversy over it,” Ramesh said, adding that the full version was sung during Saturday’s event. He categorically denied BJP claims that anyone attempted to halt the rendition.
Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari alleged that Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi tried to stop the full rendition for “vote-bank and appeasement politics”. Another BJP spokesperson, R P Singh, also criticised Sonia Gandhi over the issue.
The controversy comes shortly after Parliament passed the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which makes insults to the national song a punishable offence. The legislation was cleared by the Rajya Sabha and subsequently passed by the Lok Sabha on July 30.
