Panaji: BJP leader Rupesh Kamat on Monday hit out at the Congress over the ongoing controversy surrounding Vande Mataram, accusing the party of “appeasement politics” and alleging that it had opposed the complete version of the national song.
In a post on X, Kamat said Goa Pradesh Congress Committee Working President Sunil Kawthankar had referred to the history of Vande Mataram but “seems to have forgotten” the events of 1937.
He alleged that in 1937, the Congress, under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru, decided to use only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram as its official version because the complete song did not conform to its “principle of appeasing minorities”.
“In 1937, they divided the national song. In 1947, they divided the nation,” Kamat said.
He alleged that the Congress continued to oppose the complete version of Vande Mataram because of its “appeasement politics”.
Kamat also accused the Congress of having an “anti-Bharat mindset” and alleged that its opposition to Vande Mataram was merely a manifestation of its broader political ideology.
He said the people of India had “learned their lessons” and would not support the Congress again.
Kamat’s remarks came amid a political row over Vande Mataram, with the BJP and Congress trading allegations over the national song and its historical treatment.
