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As India gears up for a year-long celebration marking 150 years of Vande Mataram, a new controversy has erupted over the alleged deletion of stanzas. Composed by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, 'Vande Mataram' was first published in the literary journal 'Bangadarshan' on November 7, 1875.The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday accused the Congress of "historically distorting" the national song under former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's leadership.BJP national spokesperson CR Kesavan took to X, alleging that the Congress, under Nehru's presidency, had in 1937 adopted only a truncated version of Vande Mataram, deliberately removing stanzas that praised Goddess Durga."It is imperative for our younger generation to know how the Congress party
brazenly pandering to its communal agenda under the Presidentship of Nehru, adopted only a truncated Vande Mataram as the party's national song in its 1937 Faizpur Session, while PM @narendramodi ji today will inaugurate the 150th year commemoration & participate in the mass recital of the full version of our glorious Vande Mataram across the nation," the BJP leader said.
He said that the song "did not belong to any particular religion or language" as he accused the Congress of committing a "historic sin and blunder" by linking it with religion and removing its devotional invocations to the goddess."The glorious Vande Mataram became the voice of our nation's unity and solidarity, celebrating our motherland, instilling nationalistic spirit and fostering patriotism. Chanting it was made a criminal offence by the British. It did not belong to any particular religion or language. But the Congress committed the historic sin and blunder of linking the song with religion. Congress under Nehru, citing religious grounds, deliberately removed stanzas of Vande Mataram, which hailed Goddess Ma Durga," he stated.
