Raipur: The BJP on Saturday passed a resolution affirming its commitment to the dignity and historical legacy of Vande Mataram and strongly criticised the Congress Working Committee’s (CWC) decision to restrict its rendition at party events to the first two stanzas.
BJP national president Nitin Nabin said the resolution sought to uphold and protect the historical legacy of the national song. The party’s move came days after the CWC, on August 19, reaffirmed its 1937 resolution limiting the rendition of Vande Mataram at Congress programmes.
The BJP accused the Congress of undermining the significance of a song that, it said, represents reverence for the motherland, became a rallying cry during the freedom struggle and continues to symbolise national consciousness.
The resolution said the BJP would uphold the complete six-stanza version of Vande Mataram, referring to what it described as its constitutional recognition by the Constituent Assembly in 1950 and statutory protections accorded to the national song through parliamentary legislation in 2026.
The party opposed any attempt to subject Vande Mataram to political appeasement, communal pressure or vote-bank considerations. It maintained that resolutions adopted by political parties cannot override constitutional decisions or parliamentary legislation.
The BJP also announced a nationwide awareness campaign through which its workers will educate people, particularly the younger generation, about the history, meaning and role of Vande Mataram in India’s freedom movement.
The campaign will also highlight the circumstances surrounding the 1937 decision, including objections raised by the Muslim League and subsequent communal demands, the resolution said.
Invoking Mahatma Gandhi’s description of Vande Mataram as an anti-imperialist slogan reflecting national sentiment, the BJP said the song had served as a rallying cry during India’s struggle for independence.
The party said Vande Mataram would continue to serve as a guiding phrase for the vision of a developed India by 2047.
