Abdullahs Stand For Full Vande Mataram, Congress Objects, Told To Sit Down

Congress' objection to the rendition of the full Vande Mataram at an event in Srinagar in the presence of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Jammu and Kashmir National Conference president Farooq Abdullah has snowballed into a full-blown political war.

While ally National Conference has told the Congress that it cannot dictate terms to alliance partners, the BJP has launched a "Muslim League" attack on the Congress.

The political row started after Congress took exception to the full version of the national song being played at Jammu and Kashmir's international film festival on Monday.

Tagging the video of the full version of the song being sung at the event, Congress general secretary in-charge organisation, KC Venugopal, advised ally National Conference to stand with the party in sticking to the truncated version of the song.

"The full version of Vande Mataram sits uneasily with the syncretic and pluralist ethos that our freedom fighters envisioned and nurtured for India," he posted on X. He added, "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." The Congress leader urged its allies to honour the wisdom and judgment of the freedom fighters, and stand with the party in singing only the version of the "beautiful and historic song" that it adopted.

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… pic.twitter.com/VngmVUmevz

— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) September 8, 2026

The assertion invited a sharp retort from the National Conference, which insisted that Congress cannot dictate terms to its allies.

"As alliance partner you can't dictate terms whether to sing or how much to sing. Venugopal has the right to tweet, but can't impose. It is people's choice. We are against imposing anything on people," NC leader Bashir Ahmed said.

The Congress doubled down on its attack on the alliance partner, asking it not to bow down to Nagpur (read RSS) diktat.
"Omar Abdullah and Farooq Abdullah are part of INDIA alliance. Being an alliance partner, they should respect Congress decision and not Nagpur (RSS) decision," Congress leader Kapil Singh said.

The BJP meanwhile hit out at the Congress for its objection to the full Vande Mataram. BJP MP and spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said the party's objection to singing the full version left no doubt that it had become a new Muslim League of the 21st century.

The Congress stands "completely isolated" on this issue, Trivedi said. "This makes it clear that the 'dimmagi Naxal' Congress has now transformed into a 'Muslim League Congress and has completely surrendered to fundamentalist forces," the BJP Rajya Sabha MP said.

BJP leader RS Pathania also attacked the Congress for objecting to full Vande Mataram saying that "even the separatists in the Valley did not object to the national song". 

The Congress Working Committee (CWC) last month decided to abide by the 1937 resolution of its highest decision-making body on Vande Mataram, saying only two stanzas of the National Song would be sung at all party events henceforth.

The Congress decision came after the BJP accused its leaders of insulting Vande Mataram by not singing the full version at party events.
The Centre earlier this year mandated that all six stanzas of Vande Mataram must be played before Jana Gana Mana at all government events, schools, and official ceremonies.