Vande Mataram Row: Congress Accuses Amit Shah Of Distracting From Government Failures

The Congress on Sunday accused Union Home Minister Amit Shah of using the controversy surrounding “Vande Mataram” to divert attention from what the party described as the failures of the Narendra Modi government. The remarks came after Shah demanded an apology from the Congress over an alleged interruption during the singing of the national song at the party's Independence Day event. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh launched a sharp attack on Shah, referring to his criticism of the party as an attempt to shift the political focus away from issues facing the government. Ramesh also accused Shah of having insulted B R Ambedkar on the floor of the Rajya Sabha on December 17, 2024, and criticised the ideology associated with the BJP over its historical position on the national flag.

“A man who insulted Dr Ambedkar on the floor of the Rajya Sabha on Dec 17, 2024. A man who belongs to an ideology that did not see fit to unfurl the tiranga at its headquarters till Jan 2002,” Ramesh said in a post on X.  He further accused Shah of having “orchestrated” police action against peacefully protesting young people and alleged that the demand for an apology was intended to distract from what he called the “colossal failures” of the government.The exchange followed Shah's criticism of the Congress over the alleged interruption of “Vande Mataram”. Shah had demanded that the Congress apologise to the people and to Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, who wrote the song. The controversy has emerged amid political disagreements over the singing and historical significance of the national song during Independence Day-related events.

Congress media and publicity department head Pawan Khera also criticised the BJP and its ideological predecessors while defending the Congress's association with “Vande Mataram”. Khera said that the Congress had used the song as part of the freedom movement when people faced repression for raising nationalist slogans. He alleged that people associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh had either avoided the freedom struggle or sought to appease British authorities. Several Congress leaders also circulated excerpts from Ramesh's speech in the Rajya Sabha during a debate on the 150th anniversary of “Vande Mataram” in December 2025.

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During that debate, Ramesh accused the BJP of distorting historical accounts and disrespecting freedom fighters who had contributed to India's independence movement. Ramesh had also referred to historical correspondence involving leaders such as Subhas Chandra Bose, Rabindranath Tagore, Rajendra Prasad and Jawaharlal Nehru while discussing the evolution of “Vande Mataram” and debates surrounding its use. He cited a September 1937 letter from Rajendra Prasad to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in which concerns within sections of the political leadership over the song were discussed.

Ramesh questioned whether raising such historical concerns could be characterised as appeasement, asking whether leaders such as Rajendra Prasad and Patel should also be accused of the same. The Congress has used these historical references to argue that discussions over “Vande Mataram” existed within the freedom movement itself and should not be reduced to a contemporary political dispute. The latest exchange has turned the national song into another point of confrontation between the BJP and Congress.

While Shah has sought an apology from the opposition party, Congress leaders have rejected the demand and accused the government of using the controversy to avoid scrutiny over other political and governance issues. The dispute is likely to continue as both parties invoke different interpretations of the history and political significance of “Vande Mataram”. At the centre of the disagreement is not only the alleged incident at the Congress event but also a wider political contest over nationalism, the freedom movement and the historical legacies claimed by India's major political parties.

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