Nation
Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched a strong counter to the Opposition during the Rajya Sabha discussion marking 150 years of Vande Mataram.
Responding to Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s allegation that the debate was timed with an eye on the West Bengal polls, Shah said the national song “is not limited to Bengal” and called it unfortunate to link it with electoral politics.
Shah argued that Vande Mataram was the cultural mantra that awakened India’s nationalist spirit during the freedom struggle and continues to guide the country on its path toward Viksit Bharat. He further said that attempts to divide the song for “appeasement politics” contributed to the Partition.
Targeting the Congress, Shah also accused Jawaharlal Nehru of restricting the poem to two stanzas for political considerations, questioning the party’s objections to holding a parliamentary discussion on the national song.