Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Aug 23: The BJP has announced a nationwide campaign centred on Vande Mataram, setting the stage for a fresh political confrontation with the Congress and other opposition parties over the national song's full version.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the BJP's newly appointed office-bearers chaired by party president Nitin Nabin. The campaign will focus on Vande Mataram's role in India's freedom struggle, opposition to the song from Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah and other Muslim leaders, and the decision taken by the Congress in 1937 to adopt only its first two stanzas.
The BJP has accused the Congress of once again bowing to what it described as “appeasement politics” and alleged that the current opposition to the full version of Vande Mataram was driven by “communal pressure or narrow vote-bank considerations”.
The party adopted a four-page resolution at the meeting, alleging that the Congress had repeated the same politics of appeasement that it had followed in 1937 by allowing the Muslim League's demands to influence the treatment of national symbols.
The BJP's 10-point campaign comes after the Congress said it would continue to follow its 1937 resolution, under which only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram were adopted for use at Congress events.
The Congress has opposed the notification restoring the full version of Vande Mataram for official events. The political dispute has also intensified following Parliament's passage of legislation making insult to the national song a punishable offence.
The BJP plans to use the campaign to highlight Vande Mataram's association with the freedom movement and portray the controversy as a question of preserving the song's historical and cultural legacy.
The party is also seeking to take the issue to younger voters, with Gen Z emerging as an increasingly important focus of political mobilisation. The BJP's campaign will include youth-oriented programmes aimed at presenting Vande Mataram as part of India's national heritage.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also visited the BJP headquarters and interacted with the party's new office-bearers during the organisational meetings.
“Organisational meetings are all about new ideas aimed at strengthening the party and deepening connection with the people,” Modi said.
In its resolution, the BJP cited remarks made by several national leaders, including Mahatma Gandhi and C Rajagopalachari, to counter opposition allegations that the party was using Vande Mataram to deepen political divisions.
The BJP cited Gandhi's remarks from 1939, in which he said he associated Vande Mataram with “the purest national spirit” and did not regard it as a Hindu song meant only for Hindus. Gandhi had also remarked, “Unfortunately, now we have fallen on evil days.”
Nabin accused the Congress of once again sowing what he described as seeds of division by supporting the truncated version of the song, alleging that the decision in 1937 was influenced by pressure from the Muslim League.
The BJP's campaign will also coincide with a month-long programme beginning around Prime Minister Modi's birthday on September 17. Several programmes aimed at young people are expected to form part of the campaign.
The party's annual 'sewa' (service) programme will receive special emphasis this year as Modi is also set to complete 25 years as the head of a government, marking a significant milestone in his political career.
The Vande Mataram controversy is expected to remain a major political issue in the coming weeks, with the BJP seeking to frame the debate around nationalism and the song's historical role, while the Congress maintains its position on the use of the first two stanzas adopted in 1937.