Vandemataram firestorm: Parliament erupts over 1937 Congress ‘abridgement’ claim

A special Lok Sabha sitting to mark 150 years of Vandemataram dissolved into a sustained political confrontation, with the BJP mounting a full-scale attack on the Indian National Congress over a 1937 decision to shorten the hymn, and the opposition accusing the government of manufacturing controversy to distract from economic and governance failures.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened the debate by reciting the original, full verses and demanding an apology from the Congress for what he described as a historical compromise. The prime minister framed the song as a symbol of cultural energy and national unity that had been unfairly curtailed, and he repeatedly linked the 1937 truncation to accommodation of objections from the Muslim League, accusing former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru of echoing Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s opposition to the national song and “pandering to communal concerns”.

PM Modi slams Congress's 'appeasement politics'

The prime minister said Nehru had once written to Subhas Chandra Bose that Vandemataram might “provoke and irritate Muslims”, and suggested examining its usage. “This, despite Vande Mataram being born in Bankim Chandra’s Bengal,” he said.

The prime minister also associated the national anthem with the Emergency declared by Indira Gandhi in 1975, claiming that when Vandemataram reached its centenary, "the Constitution was stifled and those who dedicated their lives to patriotism were imprisoned".

"The Emergency represented a bleak period in our history. We now have the chance to revive the significance of Vandemataram. This opportunity must not be squandered," Modi stated in the House.

‘Rock of resistance’

The prime minister characterised Vandemataram as the mantra that "energised and motivated India’s struggle for independence", highlighting that even when the British prohibited its publication and dissemination, the song "stood firm like a rock" against tyranny. "Following the uprising of 1857, the British forced ‘God Save the Queen’ into every home. Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay countered with Vandemataram, which, despite the partition of Bengal in 1905, brought the nation together," he remarked.

The BJP has consistently criticised the Congress for its 1937 decision to adopt only the first two stanzas of the song during national events - a choice perceived by some Muslim leaders of that era as less religiously significant than the later verses that reference Hindu deities Durga, Lakshmi, and Saraswati. The prime minister asserted that this decision "planted the seeds of division" that ultimately led to Partition.

"When Vandemataram marked its centenary, the nation was ensnared in the Emergency… Now, at its 150th anniversary, it is our responsibility to restore its former glory," he continued.

The controversy resurfaced last month after BJP leaders referenced letters Nehru sent to Bose in 1937, contending that his stance indicated a readiness to limit the song to appease communal sensitivities — a claim the Congress has previously dismissed, asserting that Nehru maintained the lyrics were "innocuous" and should not be interpreted as alluding to goddesses.

The prime minister positioned the anniversary alongside other significant national observances: "We recently commemorated 75 years of our Constitution, 150 years of Sardar Patel and Birsa Munda, and the 350th martyrdom of Guru Teg Bahadur.

The prime minister concluded that remembering Vandemataram in the parliament today was “a great privilege for all of us”.

Opposition strikes back, accuses government of obfuscation

Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi accepted that Vandemataram inspired the freedom movement. However, he rejected the government’s historical line, posed three pointed questions to the ruling party and accused it of using the bicentenary for partisan ends. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra joined the charge, while Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee, in West Bengal, questioned the BJP’s sincerity in invoking Bengali icons.

"It seemed that your political ancestors participated in various movements against the British. So I saw the intention in the PM's speech to rewrite and revise history. The second objective was to give a political colour to this debate," Gogoi said.

"He took Nehru's name 14 times and that of the Congress 50 times during the debate on Operation Sindoor. When there was a discussion on the 75th anniversary of the Constitution, Nehru's name was taken 10 times and that of the Congress 26 times," Gogoi said. Gogoi asserted that “no matter how much the BJP tries, it will not be able to put a single blot on the contribution of Jawaharlal Nehru.”

Gogoi claimed that it was the Congress that truly gave “Vande Mataram” the prominence it deserved, adding that his party ensured it was not reduced to a mere political slogan but accorded the status of the national song.

Gogoi said that “it was in the 1896 Calcutta session of the Congress that Rabindranath Tagore first sang ‘Vande Mataram’.” He added that Tagore had even written to Jawaharlal Nehru, saying, “the privilege of originally setting the first stanza of Vande Mataram to the tune was mine when the author was still alive.”

The Congress MP further added that in the 1905 Banaras session of the party, Sarala Devi Chaudhurani also sang “Vande Mataram.”

"An important amendment was made in this song which was that of population. The original song mentioned 7 crore, but in 1905, during the Banaras session, Sarla Dev Chaudhurani made it 30 crore and turned the focus of the entire country to Vande Mataram," Gogoi said. He noted that it was the Muslim League that had called for boycotting Vande Mataram. He recalled that “Congress’s Maulana Azad said, ‘I have no problems with Vande Mataram’. That was the difference between the Congress and Mohammad Ali Jinnah.”

Other opposition voices called the exercise wasteful. AIUDF’s Rafiqul Islam said the parliament’s time and taxpayers’ money were being squandered, arguing that urgent issues such as unemployment and inflation were being sidelined. DMK MP A. Raja also intervened against the government's narrative.

Watch the discussion on the debate above on the YouTube channels of The Squirrels and Breaking Tube featured above.

BJP presses its campaign, parliamentary debate to continue

The Rajya Sabha will take up the discussion tomorrow, extending the row. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is expected to conclude the government's argument later today, and senior BJP figures indicated they will press the demand for a formal Congress apology for the 1937 abridgement.

Key claims, counterclaims

BJP's claim: Congress agreed in 1937 to truncate the hymn to placate the Muslim League, and owes the nation an apology
Opposition's reply: The song inspired the freedom struggle, but the current debate is a political diversion from pressing governance issues
Regional critique: West Bengal leaders say BJP’s invocation of Bengali heritage is selective and inconsistent

Political stakes, public reaction

The debate has crystallised into a wider contest over cultural authority and national memory. For the BJP, the moment is an attempt to reclaim a patriotic symbol and place the Congress on the defensive over its historical choices. For the opposition, the session is emblematic of a government willing to trade parliamentary time for cultural theatre.