Congress sticks to 1937 version of Vande Mataram, to sing only first 2 stanzas

The Congress Working Committee has reaffirmed that only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram will be sung at party programmes. The decision, rooted in a 1937 resolution, has returned to focus after BJP criticism of Mallikarjun Kharge.Sonia Gandhi and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge during the Independence Day celebrations at AICC headquarters in New Delhi. (Photo: PTI)The Congress Working Committee (CWC) has reaffirmed the party’s 1937 position on Vande Mataram, deciding that only the first two stanzas of the national song will be sung at Congress programmes, amid a fresh political row over the song.Sources said the issue was discussed at the CWC meeting on Wednesday, with several leaders reiterating the party’s stand adopted in 1937.The Congress has maintained that its decision is rooted in the resolution adopted by the CWC in October 1937, when the party decided that only the first two stanzas should be sung at national gatherings.WHY CONGRESS SINGS ONLY TWO STANZASThe 1937 decision came after a debate over the complete version of Vande Mataram and its suitability for national gatherings involving people from different religious and cultural backgrounds. The song, written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in 1875 and later published in Anandamath, contains several stanzas beyond the opening two. While the first two stanzas praise the motherland, the later portions contain religious and mythological imagery.According to the historical account cited by the Congress, Rabindranath Tagore was consulted on the issue in 1937. In a letter to Jawaharlal Nehru that October, Tagore advised that the first two stanzas could be treated separately as they worked as a broad national hymn, while the later verses contained imagery that could make them unsuitable for inclusive national gatherings. The CWC subsequently recommended that “only the first two stanzas should be sung” at public and national gatherings.The 1937 decision also gave organisers the freedom to include other unobjectionable national songs alongside, or instead of, Vande Mataram.Nehru later defended the decision, arguing that the latter portions of the complete poem contained specific religious and contextual references that could not be embraced equally by all groups at a national gathering.KHARGE HITS BACK AT BJPThe Congress decision comes after the BJP criticised Kharge for singing what it called an “incomplete” version of Vande Mataram during his public meeting in South Goa on Monday.Kharge defended the version he sang, saying it was the same one used by several national leaders over the decades.“I sang the ‘Vande Mataram’ which Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru sang... the same song which Vallabhbhai Patel and Atal Bihari Vajpayee sang. If that is the crime, then file a case against Gandhiji, Nehru and Vallabhbhai Patel,” Kharge said.Kharge also accused the BJP of being unaware of the historical decisions taken by the Congress on the national song and the national anthem.“They don't know that before they were born, the Congress had passed the resolution to decide about the national song and the national anthem,” he said.“I did what has been happening for the last 80 years,” Kharge added.A POLITICAL ROW WITH A 1937 BACKDROPThe 1937 decision has remained a point of political debate, with critics arguing that limiting the song to its opening stanzas amounted to an attempt to accommodate minority concerns.The Congress, however, has continued to defend the decision as one aimed at preserving the song’s national character while ensuring that it could be sung at gatherings representing people across communities.The latest CWC discussion has brought that decades-old decision back into the political spotlight, with the party now reaffirming that its programmes will follow the 1937 version and use only the first two stanzas.CONGRESS SAYS SONG IS ABOVE POLITICSGoa Pradesh Congress Committee president Girish Chodankar also defended the version sung at the party event in Goa.“There is an attempt to create confusion over Vande Mataram. At the Ekvot BLAs and Booth Workers Convention in Goa, attended by (party) President Mallikarjun Kharge Ji, we proudly sang Vande Mataram, the national song of India,” Chodankar said in a social media post.He said the same version had been sung by generations of freedom fighters and leaders, including Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru, Sardar Patel, Subhas Chandra Bose and Lal Bahadur Shastri.Chodankar also pointed to Vande Mataram being sung during the tenures of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Narendra Modi, as well as by Chief Ministers and leaders across political parties.“Vande Mataram belongs to India and to every Indian. It is above party, above politics,” he said.- EndsPublished By: Sonali VermaPublished On: Aug 19, 2026 19:18 IST