Vande Mataram Row: PM Modi Links Song's 1937 'Partition' To India's Division

A political firestorm has erupted over the national song, Vande Mataram, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge trading sharp accusations. The controversy reignited during the 150th-anniversary commemorations of the song, with the Prime Minister claiming that the truncation of the song in 1937 sowed the seeds for the nation's partition. Mr. Modi stated, ‘This partition of Vande Matram also sowed the seeds of the partition of the country’. In response, Kharge accused the RSS and BJP of hypocrisy, alleging they never sing the national song or the national anthem. The row has been further fueled by Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Azmi, who refused to recite the song, citing religious reasons, which led to a protest by the BJP outside his Mumbai residence.