New Delhi, Aug 22 — Hitting out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over its resolution on the national song Vande Mataram, the INDIA bloc on Saturday accused the party of attempting to divert attention from real problems by making an issue out of the controversy.
Following a row over the conduct of senior Congress leaders during Vande Mataram's rendition at the Independence Day event and the Congress Working Committee's resolution to continue restricting its rendition at party programmes to only the first two stanzas, the BJP passed a resolution strongly defending the honour, dignity and historical legacy of the national song.
Speaking to IANS, Congress leader Harish Rawat said: "The BJP is trying to make Vande Mataram an issue because the real issues are those raised by Gen Z. Gen Alpha is also raising issues of inflation and unemployment. To divert attention from these questions, some emotional issues are being raised," he said while asserting that it is a song associated with the history of the Congress.
Echoing similar views, Shiv Sena-UBT leader Priyanka Chaturvedi said: "A new team (of the BJP) that has come into place should be concerned about the economic challenges that the country is facing and should be showing its vision for how to take India forward. Instead, it is trying to divert the nation's attention towards a controversy that does not need the kind of mileage that they are seeking."
"They (BJP) are only doing it for political points...The BJP's resolution should have been about India first," she remarked.
Accusing the BJP of not following the tradition, Congress MP Tariq Anwar said: "If we look at the tradition, in 1937, the Congress Working Committee passed a resolution on the advice of Rabindranath Tagore. Mahatma Gandhi, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel and all the prominent leaders who led our freedom struggle were present, and together they decided that the two undisputed stanzas of the song should be sung."
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor stated that the Congress position on the national song is very clear, that is to follow the existing practice of singing two stanzas of Vande Mataram "when it comes to Congress party functions".
However, he said: "I think if there is a national or government function, we will all stand up for the entire thing. It depends on what is being played."
Noting that a detailed discussion on the national song had taken place in Parliament, CPI National General Secretary D. Raja accused the BJP of being "rigid and adamant and not accepting the views of other parties".
"After all, we are a multi-party democracy. Every party has its own view, and it should be considered, but BJP thinks whatever it says should be accepted by all political parties," he told IANS.
Asserting that parties like the Congress and CPI have a long history of fighting against the British, D Raja said: BJP should not think that it has the monopoly to teach nationalism and patriotism to other parties."
Shiv Sena-UBT MP Arvind Sawant also criticised the BJP, saying, "Those who have not sung Vande Mataram and those who did not participate in the freedom struggle have no right to raise questions... Today, you (BJP) are raising this issue everywhere. Why? To create a divide between Hindus and Muslims. Nothing else. It is about creating hatred."