Vande Mataram: Why the song of freedom remains at the centre of India's nationalism debate

A political controversy over the rendition of Vande Mataram at the Congress headquarters on Independence Day has brought the national song back to the centre of India's political debate.

The row began after a video from the Congress' Independence Day programme showed Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi interacting with party president Mallikarjun Kharge while Vande Mataram was being sung.

The BJP interpreted her gestures as an attempt to stop or object to the rendition of the song, while the Congress rejected the allegation and said Gandhi's interaction was unrelated to any objection to Vande Mataram.

The controversy has since widened, with BJP leaders accusing the Congress leadership of disrespecting the national song. The issue also prompted a response from Sumitro Chatterjee, a BJP MLA from West Bengal and a direct descendant of Vande Mataram author Bankim Chandra Chatterjee.

Chatterjee wrote to Sonia Gandhi seeking an unconditional apology over what he described as an insult to the song at the Congress headquarters. In his letter, he said he was writing as an ordinary citizen, a patriot and a descendant of Chattopadhyay and expressed what he described as deep anguish over the incident.

The political dispute has acquired added significance because 2026 marks 150 years of Vande Mataram. The song has been given renewed prominence during this year's Independence Day celebrations, including its rendition from the Red Fort.

But the controversy cannot be understood only through the latest political exchange. The history of Vande Mataram itself explains why questions surrounding its rendition have repeatedly carried political and social significance.

From Bankim Chandra's poem to a symbol of the freedom movement

Vande Mataram was written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and was published in his 1882 novel Anandamath. The song subsequently became closely associated with India's freedom movement and emerged as a powerful expression of nationalist sentiment.

Its importance grew considerably during the anti-colonial movement, particularly around the agitation against the 1905 Partition of Bengal.

The song was also performed at sessions of the Indian National Congress. Rabindranath Tagore sang it at the 1896 Congress session, further establishing its place within the nationalist movement.

Over time, Vande Mataram became more than a literary composition. It came to represent the idea of the motherland and became one of the most recognisable cultural symbols associated with India's struggle for independence.

Why the full version became contentious

The present controversy also touches upon a long-standing question surrounding the full version of the song.

Vande Mataram contains several stanzas. While the opening stanzas describe the motherland and its natural beauty, later portions contain references to Hindu religious imagery, including the goddess Durga.

This became a matter of discussion as national leaders debated which symbols could represent a country with multiple religious communities.

In 1937, the Congress decided that the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram could be used at public gatherings. T

So why were only the first two stanzas used?

The decision came after discussions over concerns surrounding the religious imagery in the later portions. The distinction between the opening portion and the complete composition has remained an important part of the song's political history.

Those references became a source of disagreement, particularly in the 1930s, when the Congress was attempting to frame symbols that could represent Indians across religious communities.

In 1937, the Congress decided that only the first two stanzas should be used at public gatherings. The decision followed discussions among Congress leaders, including Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, about the song's suitability as a common national symbol.

This historical decision is one reason the question of the “full” Vande Mataram versus the commonly performed version remains politically sensitive.

It is not simply a question of how long the song should be sung. It also touches upon the historical debate over how a national symbol should accommodate India's religious diversity.

For decades, the first two stanzas were the familiar national rendition. In 2026, the government has formally brought the six-stanza version back into official use, making the old debate over the song's later religious imagery newly relevant.

Vande Mataram and Jana Gana Mana

Another important point in the debate is the status of Vande Mataram.

India's National Anthem is Jana Gana Mana, while Vande Mataram is the National Song.

On January 24, 1950, Constituent Assembly president Rajendra Prasad announced that Jana Gana Mana would be the National Anthem and that Vande Mataram, because of its historic role in India's freedom struggle, would be honoured equally with it.

The two therefore occupy distinct but officially recognised positions among India's national symbols.

This distinction is relevant to the current debate because the political argument is not simply about whether Vande Mataram is an important patriotic composition. Its historic contribution to India's freedom struggle has been formally recognised.

Why has Vande Mataram repeatedly become controversial?

The song sits at the intersection of three histories.

The first is its nationalist history. It became one of the most recognisable cultural symbols of resistance to British rule.

The second is its religious and cultural imagery. The later portions of the poem contain references that have historically raised concerns about whether the complete text can function as an equally comfortable national symbol for citizens of every faith.

The third is its political history. Decisions about how and when the song should be performed have repeatedly been interpreted through the ideological differences between political parties.

That combination makes Vande Mataram particularly susceptible to political contestation.