Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday launched a sharp attack on the Congress over the controversy surrounding the rendition of the national song ‘Vande Mataram’ at the Congress headquarters during the Independence Day celebrations on Saturday.
Earlier reporting noted: Congress should apologise for insulting Vande Mataram on Independence Day: Amit Shah Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday (August 16, 2026) accused the Congress of insulting the national song ‘Vande Mataram’ and demanded that the party apologise to the people and to Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay who wrote the song. Earlier reporting noted: The Home Minister alleged that the Congress had forgotten Vande Mataram due to vote-bank politics. Addressing a public gathering in Rajasthan’s Chittorgarh district, Shah accused the Congress of disrespecting the national song and demanded that the party apologise for allegedly stopping its rendition midway. Referring to visuals from the Congress headquarters, Shah alleged that senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi had asked the party president to stop the song while it was being sung. Shah alleged that during the Independence Day programme at the Congress headquarters, party leader Sonia Gandhi asked Vande Mataram to be stopped midway through the song.
Earlier reporting noted: Addressing a public meeting in Chittorgarh, Mr.
He also questioned how anyone could consider leaving Vande Mataram incomplete and said the Congress should be ashamed of the incident. Accusing the Congress of forgetting the song because of “vote bank politics”, Shah said the national song should be accorded respect across the country. He said this was the first time the entire version of Vande Mataram had been sung at the Congress headquarters during an Independence Day programme.
Meanwhile BJP MLA Sumitro Chatterjee, the direct descendant of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, has written to Sonia Gandhi expressing anguish over the Vande Mataram recitation at Congress headquarters row. He has demanded an unconditional apology from her to the citizens of India, particularly the people of West Bengal. The controversy began after visuals from the Congress headquarters’ Independence Day programme on Saturday showed senior party leaders interacting while Vande Mataram was being recited.
