Congress Slams PM Modi for “Distorting History” Over Vande Mataram Remarks

The Congress party on Sunday launched a strong and scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of "distorting history" and "insulting" the nation's founding figures, including Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, following the Prime Minister's recent comments on the national song, Vande Mataram.

The controversy erupted after PM Modi, speaking at a public event, alleged that the Congress party had damaged the national song by removing "important stanzas" in 1937, a move he controversially claimed "sowed the seeds of partition."

The Prime Minister's remarks refer to a decision by the Congress Working Committee (CWC) in October 1937 to adopt only the first two stanzas of the six-stanza poem by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee as the national song.

Historical accounts indicate that this decision, taken by the CWC, which included stalwarts like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Sardar Patel, was made after careful deliberation and was profoundly influenced by the advice of Rabindranath Tagore.

The longer, original poem, included in the novel Anandamath, contained stanzas with idolatrous references that were seen as potentially offensive to other communities.

In a forceful rebuttal, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh not only refuted the historical claim but also demanded an apology from the Prime Minister. Ramesh asserted that PM Modi was willfully ignoring the historical context and the counsel of one of India's greatest intellectuals.

"The Prime Minister has insulted the Congress Working Committee and Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore," Ramesh said in a statement posted on X. He further added a sharp critique aimed at the PM's ideological moorings: "That he should have done so is shocking but not surprising since the RSS had played no role in our Freedom Movement led by Mahatma Gandhi," the Congress leader stated.

Ramesh highlighted that the CWC's decision was directly shaped by the counsel of Gurudev, who had himself sung Vande Mataram at the 1896 Congress Session in Kolkata. "The statement issued by the CWC on October 28, 1937, was profoundly influenced by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore and his advice," Ramesh tweeted, sharing historical extracts to back the claim.

"The Master Distorian of a PM must render an apology. He has insulted our founding fathers and most of all Tagore himself," he demanded, using the hashtag to challenge the Prime Minister's version of events.

The Congress also accused PM Modi of politicizing the national song to distract the public from genuine governance issues. Ramesh alleged the Prime Minister was attempting to deflect attention from pressing national concerns.

"His economic policies have sharpened inequalities. Unemployment has scaled new highs. Investment momentum has been lost. His foreign policy has collapsed. He stands thoroughly exposed. And all he does is abuse and defame India's first Prime Minister," Ramesh concluded, broadening the attack to include the Prime Minister's tenure.