Bengal Polls: Amit Shah, Mallikarjun Kharge Engage in Heated Debate Over Vande Mataram's Legacy

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Union Home Minister Amit Shah has sparked a heated debate in the Rajya Sabha over the national song Vande Mataram, linking its discussion to the upcoming West Bengal polls. In a response to Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's criticism, Shah argued that the BJP-led NDA is not exploiting the song for political gain. Priyanka Gandhi had called the discussion an 'insult' to freedom fighters and the makers of the Constitution who had chosen the two stanzas of the original poem that were adopted. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge backed Priyanka's stance, accusing PM Modi and Amit Shah of leaving no chance to insult Jawaharlal Nehru and other Congress leaders. Amit Shah initiated the discussion, stating that Vande Mataram was the 'mantra' that awakened India's cultural nationalism. He attacked Congress leaders for questioning the need for a debate on the song, claiming that some people believe the discussion is being held only to glorify the song in connection with the West Bengal elections. Shah also accused Jawaharlal Nehru of 'dividing' the poem and limiting it to two stanzas in 1937, calling it the 'beginning of appeasement politics' that led to the partition of India. He noted that the song was written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in Bengal, but it spread across the nation and became a chant for India's freedom struggle. Mallikarjun Kharge countered Shah's accusations, citing correspondence among freedom fighters to stress that the decision to use only the first two stanzas as the national song was taken collectively by leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, Subhash Chandra Bose, and Nehru. Kharge alleged that the RSS and Hindu Mahasabha were 'serving the British' when Congress members were 'going to jail chanting Vande Mataram'. The Congress president also quoted Rabindranath Tagore, who had said he found 'no difficulty' in dissociating the first two stanzas of the poem from the rest of the song. Kharge accused Shah of targeting Nehru alone and insulting other tall leaders who had made the decision to adopt the two stanzas. The debate over Vande Mataram's legacy has sparked a heated exchange between Amit Shah and Mallikarjun Kharge, with both leaders accusing each other of exploiting the national song for political gain.