'Allies should stand with us': Congress calls out Abdullahs after full version of Vande Mataram played

NEW DELHI: The Congress has urged its allies to “stand with us” in singing a shorter version of Vande Mataram, after all six stanzas of the national song were played at an event attended by Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah and his father, Farooq Abdullah, the top two leaders of Congress ally National Conference (NC).Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal argued that the full version of Vande Mataram “sits uneasily with the syncretic and pluralist ethos that our freedom fighters envisioned and nurtured for India.”“For us, the considered judgment of Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru, Sardar Patel, Subhash Chandra Bose, Rajendra Prasad, Acharya Narendra Dev, Maulana Azad, Sarojini Naidu and J.B. Kripalani — shaped in no small part by the counsel of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore — remains paramount,” Venugopal said on X.“With respect and humility, we would like our allies to honour the wisdom and judgment of our freedom fighters, and stand with us in singing only the version of this beautiful and historic song that they adopted,” he added.The Alappuzha MP maintained that the Congress' decision to sing only the first two stanzas was made “deliberately” to prevent the song from being “communalised." He was referring to the Congress’ 1937 resolution recommending that only the first two stanzas of the national song be sung to “maintain communal harmony."In July, the BJP-led Centre enacted the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Act, 2026, granting Vande Mataram statutory protection on par with the national anthem, Jana Gana Mana. The law mandates the singing of the full version at official events and provides for imprisonment of up to three years, a fine, or both for anyone found guilty of “insulting” the song.On August 15, Vande Mataram was played for the first time at the official Independence Day ceremony. It was played in full before and after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort in Delhi.Accused of "minority appeasement" by the ruling BJP, the Congress has stood its ground, repeatedly invoking the 1937 resolution to justify singing only the first two stanzas.Get the latest India News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.