The BJP on Saturday passed a resolution to uphold the “honour, dignity, legacy and national status of the complete Vande Mataram”, condemning the Congress’s decision to sing only the first two stanzas of the national song.
In the resolution passed at the first meeting of its new national office-bearers appointed recently by BJP president Nitin Nabin, the ruling party said the Congress Working Committee (CWC) could not override constitutional institutions or laws of the country.
The BJP announced that it will launch a campaign to take the historic legacy and significance of Vande Mataram across the country. At the start of the meeting, the party office-bearers recited all six stanzas of the national song.
“The BJP regards Vande Mataram as the national song of Bharat, an expression of reverence for Bharat Mata, a mantra of the freedom struggle and an immortal symbol of India’s national consciousness,” Nabin said in a post after the meeting.
He said the BJP 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”.
Later, in the evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at the BJP headquarters to interact with the new office-bearers, following which he said in an X post: “Organisational meetings are all about new ideas and perspectives aimed at strengthening the Party and deepening connect with the people. Great interaction with fellow Party colleagues and the new organisational team!”
Attacking the Congress, the BJP resolved to “reject every attempt to subordinate the national song to communal pressure, political appeasement or narrow vote-bank considerations”, adding that “no compromise can be accepted with the honour and legacy of Vande Mataram for political convenience or appeasement”.
Nabin said the BJP workers will carry out a nationwide campaign to “take the history, meaning, national significance and glorious legacy of Vande Mataram” to every corner of India.
He called upon people to remember that the words Vande Mataram were “once powerful enough to frighten an empire” and that generations of Indians carried them as a mantra of freedom, sacrifice, and national pride.
This, the BJP chief said, is not “merely a matter concerning a political party” but one that concerns India’s honour and legacy of countless patriots who sacrificed their lives for the freedom of the nation.
“The same ‘Vande Mataram’ that echoed as the call for freedom in 1947 will resound as the supreme chant for a ‘Developed India @ 2047’ under the vision of PM Narendra Modi,” Nabin added.
Panel for youth outreach
The BJP formed a Nabin-headed committee for reaching out to the youth and Gen Z, which includes new general secretaries Vinod Tawde and Smriti Irani besides Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi and Chhattisgarh finance minister O P Choudhary as members, party sources said.
Tawde said the meeting was followed by a workshop, involving state presidents, general secretaries and state functionaries, to discuss the party’s upcoming “Seva Sankalp Abhiyan”.
This would coincide with the “Seva Pakhwada” which the BJP observes across the country to mark the birthday of PM Modi on September 17, Tawde said, adding that October 7 will mark the completion of 25 years since Modi first took the oath as the Gujarat CM.
Nabin is set to hold the office-bearers’ meeting for a second day on Sunday.
Congress hits back
Castigating the BJP’s resolution, Congress national spokesperson Alok Sharma said: “I want to ask a question. Does the BJP or Mr Amit Shah consider themselves bigger than the Constituent Assembly of India. Our country’s biggest leaders, including Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore, had backed limiting the public rendition of Vande Mataram to its first two stanzas.”
Sharma also said, “If the BJP or the government cites the (amendment) Bill, then there is the example of the three farm laws which were withdrawn by the Modi government after opposition from people.”
He was referring to the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Act, 2026 which the Modi government passed during the recently concluded Monsoon Session of Parliament. The legislation makes attempts to stop or prevent the singing or playing of Vande Mataram a criminal offence.
Several Congress leaders said the BJP resolution indicated that the ruling party was “rattled” by Rahul Gandhi’s outreach to students including his engagement with them at Pune on Saturday evening. “This is a bid to distract from issues of students and we will continue to ignore such petty bids by the BJP,” said a senior Congress leader.
At its meeting Wednesday, the CWC decided that the party will only sing the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram at its events. It cited a 1937 CWC resolution to back its stand, arguing that the leading lights of the freedom movement, including Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore, had backed limiting the public rendition of Vande Mataram to its first two stanzas.
Nitin Nabin said the BJP has resolved to 'reject every attempt to subordinate' Vande Mataram 'to communal pressure, political appeasement or narrow vote-bank considerations'. (File Photo) 
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