Defense Minister Rajnath Singh speaks in the Lok Sabha during a debate on 150 years of the national song on December 8, 2025. Photo: Sansad TV via PTI
The Treasury Benches in the Lok Sabha on Monday (December 8, 2025) strongly echoed the view that the national song Vande Mataram fueled India’s freedom struggle but was “betrayed” after independence due to the “politics of appeasement” practiced by the Congress party, as a result of which only two stanzas of the song were known to the people.
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Defense Minister Rajnath Singh elaborated on the context in which Bankim Chandra Chatterjee wrote the song, stating that it was during a period of famine in Bengal when the local Nawab, influenced by the British, was extorting rent from impoverished peasants. “It was in no way communal or targeted at a particular community,” Mr Singh said. This “betrayal of Vande Mataram was a policy of appeasement which later led to the partition of the country,” the minister alleged.
“Now is the time for an unbiased appreciation of Vande Mataram and its history,” Mr. Singh said, adding, “Everyone has heard the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram, but many are not familiar with the rest. Most parts of the original version have been forgotten and these stanzas portray the essence of India.”
“Vande Mataram is complete in itself but there have been attempts to make it incomplete,” Mr. Singh asserted. He called for the song’s glory to return.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha, former Union Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Anurag Thakur pointed out the absence of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra when the Prime Minister spoke.
“It (Vande Mataram) is not just a song but a maha mantra (a great chant). It is not a song belonging to a religion, a person or a state, instead it is a song of the nation’s soul, pride and aspirations. It is a tradition of love for the nation and that is why the Congress is afraid of it. It is so afraid that when PM Modi started the discussion, there were two members… said Mr Thakur.
Published – 8 Dec 2025 21:04 IST
