Amit Shah hails South's development in CMs meet, cites 3 pillars of progress

Union Home Minister Amit Shah harshly criticized the Congress party on Thursday for its decision to sing only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram at party events, labeling it as "anti-national" and accusing the opposition of engaging in vote-bank appeasement. This stance was taken in response to the Congress Working Committee's (CWC) adherence to their 1937 resolution, which aimed to sing only two stanzas of the national song, rather than the full rendition, at all party events.

Shah argued that this decision was an "open defiance of the law" and drew a connection between the 1937 decision and the events that led to the country's partition in 1947. According to him, the Congress Party, in a bid to appease Muslim sentiments, split Vande Mataram, thereby laying the foundation for the country's partition and strengthening the two-nation theory.

The home minister also noted that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government had rectified this "historic mistake" by deciding to sing the full version of Vande Mataram at government programs, including during the 150th anniversary year of the song. He added that the Congress Party's decision confirmed their extreme policy of appeasement, as they disregarded this government decision.

Shah further accused the Congress of kowtowing to minority groups and claimed that their decision insulted Bankim Chandra Chatterjee's creation as well as the freedom fighters who sang Vande Mataram while facing martyrdom. He urged the public not to allow themselves to be divided over this issue, emphasizing that the country had already suffered the consequences of dividing Vande Mataram.