BJP backs Vande Mataram’s legacy
The BJP on Saturday adopted a 10-point political resolution to uphold the honour, dignity, legacy and national status of the complete Vande Mataram as the National Song of Bharat and as an immortal symbol of India’s national consciousness and freedom struggle and condemned the Congress’s decision to restrict the singing of the national song to its first two stanzas. The ruling party said no party or individual was bigger than the Constitution or the laws made by Parliament.
The party resolved to highlight Mahatma Gandhi’s description of Vande Mataram as an “anti-imperialist cry” linked to the “purest national spirit” and oppose attempts to subject the National Song to “communal pressure, political appeasement or narrow vote-bank considerations”.
The resolution was adopted at the BJP’s first meeting of the newly appointed office-bearers under national president Nitin Nabin, saying a nationwide campaign will be launched to take the history, meaning, national significance and glorious legacy of Vande Mataram to every corner of Bharat. This comes days after the Congress Working Committee (CWC) reaffirmed its 1937 decision to sing only the first two stanzas of the song at party programmes.
The resolution marks a strategic ideological escalation. The resolution described Vande Mataram as India’s National Song, an expression of reverence for Bharat Mata, the mantra of the freedom struggle and the immortal symbol of India’s national consciousness.
BJP’s resolution mentioned that the party will strongly oppose the Congress decision to limit Vande Mataram to two stanzas. It will protect the honour, dignity and legacy of the full six-stanza Vande Mataram. It will reaffirm the 1950 Constituent Assembly declaration and the law passed by Parliament in 2026 giving statutory protection to the National Song at par with Jana Gana Mana.
In a post on X, Nabin said, “The Bharatiya Janata Party strongly condemns and unequivocally opposes the decision taken by the Congress Working Committee on 19th August 2026 to reaffirm its 1937 resolution and restrict the singing of Vande Mataram to its first two stanzas at Congress programmes.”
The BJP resolution comes after the Congress Working Committee (CWC) on Wednesday decided to abide by its 1937 resolution on Vande Mataram, saying only two stanzas of the national song would be sung at all party events henceforth. The BJP would oppose any attempt to subject the national song to “communal pressure, political appeasement or narrow vote-bank politics”, Nabin said. “No compromise on the honour and legacy of Vande Mataram will be accepted for political convenience or appeasement,” he added.
The party called upon citizens to remember the song’s role in inspiring generations during the independence movement and rejected any reduction of its legacy to contemporary political calculations.
The resolution condemned and criticised the Congress Working Committee’s decision of 19 August 2026 to reaffirm its 1937 resolution and restrict Vande Mataram to its first two stanzas at Congress programmes.
The Congress could not override constitutional institutions or laws of the country, the BJP said in the resolution passed at a meeting of its new office-bearers here. The ruling party announced that it would launch a campaign to spread the significance of Vande Mataram to every corner of the country. “To remind the Congress that a resolution of its Working Committee cannot override the constitutional institutions or laws of the Republic of India, and that a political compromise of 1937 cannot be elevated above the constitutional settlement of 1950 and legislation enacted by Parliament in 2026,” it said.
The resolution said to affirm the constitutional and statutory status of Vande Mataram as established by the Constituent Assembly’s 1950 pronouncement and reinforced by Parliament’s 2026 amendment extending statutory protection to the National Song equivalent to that accorded to the National Anthem. To reject every attempt to subordinate the National Song to communal pressure, political appeasement or narrow vote-bank considerations.
The resolution said the party will bring before the public the historical context behind restricting Vande Mataram, including objections by the Muslim League and the politics of communal and separatist demands. It will take Mahatma Gandhi’s statement to the masses, where he had described Vande Mataram as an “anti-imperialist slogan” linked to the “purest national sentiment.”
BJP workers will run a nationwide campaign to take the history, meaning and national importance of Vande Mataram to every corner of the country. A special awareness drive will be held among the youth so that the full National Song is not forgotten and future generations understand its deep link with India’s freedom, struggle and sacrifice. No compromise on Vande Mataram’s honour will be accepted for political convenience, the resolution said.
