Congress appeals to allies to stick to the two stanzas of Vande Mataram

Congress General Secretary (Organization) KC Venugopal is holding a meeting with PCC presidents, senior leaders and AICC secretaries from Nagaland and Tripura to discuss organizational expansion in New Delhi. File (Photo: X/@INCIndia)

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Congress general secretary KC Venugopal on Tuesday (September 8, 2026) urged the party’s allies to follow its stand and sing only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram, saying the full version of the song went against the “syncretic and pluralistic ethos” envisioned by the freedom movement.

His remarks came a day after Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and National Conference President Farooq Abdullah stood by a full rendition of the national song at the inaugural Jammu and Kashmir International Film Festival in Srinagar.

The event was held at Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Center on Monday (September 6).

The National Conference is not only a part of the INDIA bloc, but the Congress is also supporting the NC government in Jammu and Kashmir.

The contrasting positions brought to the fore differences within the opposition alliance over the performance of the song.

Mr. Venugopal X-marked the video of the Srinagar incident and said the Congress continued to consider the verdict of several prominent freedom fighters on the issue “major”.

“For us, the considered judgment of Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru, Sardar Patel, Subhash Chandra Bose, Rajendra Prasad, Acharya Narendra Dev, Maulana Azad, Sarojini Naidu and JB Kripalani — largely shaped by the advice of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore — remains paramount,” he said.

“We would respectfully and humbly request that our allies honor the wisdom and judgment of our freedom fighters and stand with us and sing only the version of this beautiful and historic song that they have adopted. This version was deliberately chosen so that the song would not be shared – a threat as real today as it was then,” added Mr. Venugopal.

The full version of Vande Mataram sits uneasily with the syncretic and pluralistic ethos that our freedom fighters envisioned and cultivated for India.

For us, the considered judgment of Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru, Sardar Patel, Subhash Chandra Bose, Rajendra Prasad, Acharya… pic.twitter.com/VngmVUmevz

— KC Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) September 8, 2026

On 19 August, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) reiterated the position of the party’s 1937 resolution, which said that only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram should be sung at national rallies.

The decision followed consultations between Congress leaders and Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore advised that the first part of the song, with its invocation of the beauty and abundance of the motherland.

In Srinagar, however, the Abdullahs remained standing during a complete rendition that lasted more than three minutes before the national anthem was played.

The episode thus opened a new fault line within the INDIA bloc over the interpretation of the song, which was an important symbol of the freedom movement but long disputed due to its later religious imagery.

Published – 09 Sep 2026 02:00 IST