'Vande Mataram' – a smiling Sonia Gandhi's 'message to the nation' on her 79th birthday.
The veteran Congress leader and ex-party boss' brief reply was not a coincidence; it followed two days of ferocious discussion on the country's 'national song', which included jibes from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and counters from her daughter, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
The PM kickstarted the jab fest Monday by accusing his predecessor Jawaharlal Nehru of having followed Muhammad Ali Jinnah in opposing the song because it could "irritate Muslims".
Rahul Gandhi was expected to respond but his sister, Priyanka, picked up the torch.
And on Tuesday the MP from Kerala's Wayanad delivered a fiery reply, accusing the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party of forcing the opposition into the 'Vande Mataram' – written by a Bengali novelist and poet - discussion to gain brownie points ahead of next year's Bengal election.
READ | "Understand Real 'Vande Mataram' Chronology": PGV's Dig At Centre
She also accused the Prime Minister and the BJP of 'selectively quoting Nehru', referring to social media posts highlighting excerpts from letters he had written to Sardar Vallabhai Patel and presenting them without context, to suggest the former Prime Minister was biased.
The BJP lined up Amit Shah to counter Priyanka Gandhi and the Home Minister delivered a typically savage reply. "Some people feel 'Vande Mataram' is being discussed because the Bengal election is approaching. It is true Bankim babu (Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, the author) was born in Bengal but 'Vande Mataram' is not restricted to Bengal…" he declared.
READ | Amit Shah Rebuts PGV On Vande Mataram, Slams Nehru, Indira Gandhi
The BJP has targeted the Congress over 'Vande Mataram', accusing it of having disrespected the national song by "pandering to a communal agenda" at its 1937 session and adopting a truncated version as the country's national song.
READ | "Nehru Removed Ma Durga Stanzas": BJP On 'Vande Mataram'
The Congress responded by claiming the BJP and its ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, routinely 'avoids' the song; party boss Mallikarjun Kharge called it "deeply ironic that those who today claim to be the guardians of nationalism – RSS and BJP – have never sung 'Vande Mataram'..."
At the heart of this row are six stanzas in which Chatterjee referenced Hindu goddess Durga, Kamala (or Lakshmi), and Saraswathi, framing them as India's "perfect without peer" feminine guardians.
NDTV Explains | 'Vande Mataram' Row: What Stanzas Did Congress Drop, And Why
In 1937 the Congress, then led by ex-Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, decided to use only the first two stanzas for national gatherings. The argument was that direct references to Hindu goddesses were not well-received by some members of the Muslim community; they were seen as 'exclusionary'.
The resolution read: "Taking all things into consideration, therefore, the Committee recommends that whenever 'Vande Mataram' is sung at national gatherings, only the first two stanzas should be sung".
However, the Congress also acknowledged the freedom of any individual to "sing any other song… in addition to, or in place of, the 'Vande Mataram' song".
But the BJP has now argued the exclusions illustrate the Congress' 'divisive' plans; Prime Minister Modi said dropping the stanzas "sowed the seeds of the nation's division", referring to the Partition.
