As India celebrates 150 years of the national song Vande Mataram, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has levelled a sharp allegation against former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. The party claims that a shortened version of the iconic song was released because Nehru “deliberately removed” stanzas that paid homage to Goddess Durga.
In a post on X, BJP spokesperson C.R. Kesavan accused the Congress of committing a “historic sin and blunder” under Nehru’s party presidency in 1937. Kesavan alleged that the Congress government has brazenly been pandering to its communal agenda by adopting only a truncated Vande Mataram as the party’s national song.
“PM Modi 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 glorious Vande Mataram became the voice of our nation’s unity and solidarity,celebrating our motherland,instilling nationalistic spirit and fostering patriotism,” he said.
He added that while Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose supported releasing the song’s full original version, Nehru considered Vande Mataram “unsuitable” as the national song.
“On Oct 20, 1937 Nehru wrote to Netaji Bose claiming that the background of Vande Mataram was likely to irritate Muslims. He went on to say that there does seem to be substance regarding outcry against Vande Mataram and people who are communalistically inclined have been affected by it,” Kesavan further said.
