Mallikarjun Kharge accuses BJP of misleading house on Vande Mataram, defending Nehru
New Delhi: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday accused BJP leaders of misleading the Rajya Sabha over facts related to Vande Mataram. He asserted that the Congress requires no lessons from the ruling party on nationalism, patriotism, or the national song.
Kharge alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have repeatedly disrespected former Congress leaders, including India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.
Participating in a Rajya Sabha discussion on Vande Mataram, Kharge said the Prime Minister had “misled the House” regarding past correspondence between Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose. He added that leaders who did not sing Vande Mataram during the freedom struggle are “now singing the national song”.
Kharge said BJP’s allegations against Congress leaders are “far from the truth” and demanded an apology. He argued that the country is facing serious issues, declining rupee value, unemployment and economic stress, which should be prioritised instead of unnecessary controversies.
He criticised attempts to “divert attention” by targeting Nehru, stating that such attacks disrespect not only Nehru but also national icons such as Rabindranath Tagore and Bose, as well as freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives.
Kharge claimed he has been singing Vande Mataram for 60 years and highlighted that the Congress has a long tradition of singing the national song at party conventions, making it an anthem of the freedom struggle. He noted that the Congress Working Committee, including Mahatma Gandhi, Subhas Chandra Bose and Madan Mohan Malviya, had decided to recite only the first two verses.
The Congress chief also accused non-Congress parties of failing to participate in the freedom struggle and said some had even “disrespected the Constitution” by burning copies alongside effigies of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
He reiterated that Congress has always respected Vande Mataram, recalling that a special postage stamp was released during Indira Gandhi’s tenure to mark the song’s 100th anniversary.
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Stalin accuses Centre of trying to use women's quota as 'weapon,' slams EPS over delimitation
Chennai (PTI): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has strongly criticised the Centre over the women's reservation and accused it of trying to use it as a "weapon" to tackle the opposition before taking up the delimitation exercise based on population.
"The Union government is not concerned about implementing reservations for women. If their concerns were genuine, they could have done it right away. Rather than doing that, the BJP-led Centre is thinking of using it as a weapon to tackle opposition and take up the delimitation exercise based on population," he told PTI in an interview.
"Hence, the women's reservation must be implemented immediately without showing delimitation as a reason," the DMK president added.
Expressing apprehensions on the proposed delimitation exercise, the CM said it was the DMK that raised the first voice asserting the rights of the state after realising that Tamil Nadu would be affected by the proposed exercise. He also attacked his rival and AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami over the delimitation issue.
Recalling efforts made by the DMK to raise the issue of population-based delimitation, he said an all-party meeting and a meeting of CMs under the auspices of the Joint Action Committee seeking fair delimitation were convened. It sought to freeze delimitation for 25 years and stick to it based on the 1971 Census population.
"We urged the union government that states which successfully implemented population control programmes must not be punished," he added.
The party came up with "Tamil Nadu poradum, Tamil Nadu vellum" (Tamil Nadu will struggle, Tamil Nadu will win) and this is DMK's stand, he said.
"However, Palaniswami, who is seeking votes for the entry of the BJP through the backdoor, has till date been mute over delimitation, and this is a betrayal of the people of Tamil Nadu."
