Sonia Gandhi Vande Mataram Row: BJP Alleges Objection, Congress Says She Wanted Chair for Mallikarjun Kharge (Video)

The BJP and Congress clashed on Saturday, August 15, over the rendition of the full version of Vande Mataram at the Congress's Independence Day event, with the BJP accusing Sonia Gandhi of objecting to the song and the Congress rejecting the charge. The Congress said Gandhi was asking for a chair for party president Mallikarjun Kharge, who had been standing for some time. The full version was ultimately sung at the party headquarters in Delhi.

The dispute emerged after video footage from the Congress event was shared on social media, prompting a political exchange over the national song's rendition. BJP leaders alleged that Sonia Gandhi and other Congress leaders sought to stop the complete version, while Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said there had been no attempt to interrupt the song. Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge Skip Red Fort Independence Day Event for 2nd Consecutive Year.

BJP Alleges Sonia Gandhi Objected Full Rendition on Vande Mataram

Mother - Son - National President seems to be upset by the rendering of full Vande Mataram ….. Certain mindsets never change from pre 1947 to post 1947 . https://t.co/ScZ5Fz2Cs6

— B L Santhosh (@blsanthosh) August 15, 2026

आज स्वतंत्रता दिवस के दिन सामने आया यह दृश्य बेहद शर्मनाक है।

भारत के राष्ट्रीय गीत ‘वंदे मातरम्’ के दौरान सोनिया गांधी द्वारा आपत्ति जताना और कांग्रेस कार्यकर्ताओं से यह सवाल करना कि ‘वंदे मातरम्’ क्यों बजाया जा रहा है—कांग्रेस की मानसिकता को उजागर करता है।

क्या यही वह… pic.twitter.com/V4I0C4ESzH

— Gopal Krishna Agarwal (@gopalkagarwal) August 15, 2026

BJP Accuses Sonia Gandhi of Objecting to Full Rendition

Sharing video footage of the Congress event on X, BJP national general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh said, "Mother, son and national president (of the Congress) seem to be upset by the rendering of full Vande Mataram." Certain mindsets never change from pre 1947 to post 1947, the senior BJP leader added.

BJP spokesperson Gopal Krishna Agarwal also attacked the Congress over the alleged incident. Independence Day 2026: Nation Becomes Great When It Moves Forward on Strength of Its Dreams, Says PM Narendra Modi (Video).

"The scene that has come to light today on Independence Day is utterly shameful. Sonia Gandhi's objection during the rendition of India's national song, 'Vande Mataram', and her questioning of Congress workers as to why it was being played exposes the Congress party's mindset." Agarwal said Vande Mataram is not merely a song, but a historic symbol of India's freedom struggle, national consciousness and patriotism.

"Is this the same Congress that lays claim to the legacy of the nation's freedom struggle?" he asked.

Agarwal alleged that the Congress's attitude towards Vande Mataram reminds people of the party's "Emergency mindset". "The people of the country have rejected this mindset and will continue to reject it," he said.

Congress Denies Allegation, Cites Kharge's Chair

The Congress denied that there was any attempt to stop the full rendition of Vande Mataram and said Sonia was asking for a chair for Kharge, who had been standing for some time.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh defended the party's position by referring to the historical decision on the rendition of Vande Mataram at Congress sessions.

"On October 28, 1937, in Calcutta, a meeting of the Congress Working Committee was held in the presence of Mahatma Gandhi, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Jawaharlal Nehru, Govind Ballabh Pant and C Rajagopalachari, and on the advice of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, they decided that the initial stanzas of Vande Mataram would be sung at the Congress sessions."

Tagore gave the advice to Nehru and Bose that the first few paragraphs of Vande Mataram should be used, he said. "We have been singing those lines in every session since them, our Seva Dal sings it, our workers sing it, there is no controversy over that," Ramesh said.

He asserted that the complete version was nevertheless sung at the Congress headquarters on Saturday.

"This was discussed in Parliament for 16 hours. We put forward our views. I narrated the whole history around it which the prime minister and the home minister did not know. I informed MPs of the context in which the Vande Mataram decision was taken," Ramesh said.

"But today, at Indira Bhawan, the full version was sung, there is no question of a controversy over it," he added. Asked specifically about the BJP's allegation, Ramesh categorically denied that there had been an attempt to stop the full rendition. "As the Congress president was standing for a long time, Soniaji was asking for a chair for him," he said.

BJP Intensifies Attack

The BJP continued its criticism after the Congress's clarification. BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari alleged that Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi attempted to stop the rendition of the full version of Vande Mataram for vote-bank and appeasement politics. "Congress is suffering from 'Dimagi Naxal mindset'," Bhandari said in a post on X.

BJP spokesperson R P Singh also targeted Sonia Gandhi, asking, "Why does Antonio Maino Ji hate Vande Mataram so much? When Vande Mataram was being sung, Antonio Maino Ji reportedly became so angry that she allegedly got agitated and asked her party workers to stop it. Why such hatred for Vande Mataram?"

BJP IT department head Amit Malviya claimed that the entire Vande Mataram was sung at the Congress headquarters for the first time on Independence Day. "After the initial stanzas of Vande Mataram were sung, Sonia Gandhi became agitated and asked for the rendition to be stopped rather than played in full. Rahul Gandhi too appeared to signal that it should end. They were told to let it continue," he claimed in a post on X.

"The message was clear: the complete national song is now to be respected under the new legal framework, and intentional obstruction or disturbance can invite serious consequences. They eventually fell in line, and Vande Mataram was sung in full," he added.

Malviya further alleged that for decades, "the Gandhis" and the Congress have displayed an uneasy relationship with the idea of a culturally-confident and civilisationally-rooted India. "That discomfort stood exposed, ironically, on Independence Day," the BJP leader added.

Vande Mataram Gets New Legal Protection

The controversy comes days after Parliament passed the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026. The legislation was passed by the Rajya Sabha on July 29 and by the Lok Sabha on July 30. President Droupadi Murmu subsequently gave her assent, turning it into law.

The amendment extends the existing legal provisions covering the national anthem to Vande Mataram. It makes intentionally preventing the singing of the national song, or causing disturbance to an assembly engaged in its singing, punishable by imprisonment of up to three years, a fine, or both.

The legislation has added significance this year as India marks the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram. The song, written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, has been at the centre of a wider political and historical debate over its place in national life.

Against that backdrop, Saturday's dispute at the Congress headquarters has become another point of contention between the BJP and Congress, with the two parties offering sharply different interpretations of the same footage. The full rendition of Vande Mataram was ultimately completed, while the Congress maintained that Sonia Gandhi's gestures were related to Kharge's seating and not an attempt to stop the song.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 15, 2026 03:26 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).