The Congress faces pushback from ally National Conference, which says it cannot dictate terms, while the BJP has accused the party of becoming the ‘Muslim League’ of the 21st century.
Published: September 9, 2026, 12:17 PM IST
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Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Jammu and Kashmir National Conference president Farooq Abdullah stood for the full rendition of the Vande MataramImage Credit: @kcvenugopalmp/X
Congress has been opposing the full rendition of the Vande Mataram for some time nowDoubling down on it, Congress now objected to the rendition of the full Vande Mataram at an event in Srinagar in the presence of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Jammu and Kashmir National Conference president Farooq AbdullahThe incident has snowballed into a full-blown political war between the two allies.
The National Conference has warned that the Congress cannot dictate terms to its alliance partners, as the BJP intensifies its “Muslim League” attack on the partyThe political row started after Congress took exception to the full version of the national song being played at Jammu and Kashmir’s international film festival on Monday.
Congress general secretary in-charge organisation KC Venugopal shared a video of the full song being performed at the event and asked ally National Conference to stand by the party’s decision to use its truncated version.
The full version of Vande Mataram sits uneasily with the syncretic and pluralist ethos that our freedom fighters envisioned and nurtured for India.
For us, the considered judgment of Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru, Sardar Patel, Subhash Chandra Bose, Rajendra Prasad, Acharya… pic.twitter.com/VngmVUmevz
— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) September 8, 2026
“The full version of Vande Mataram sits uneasily with the syncretic and pluralist ethos that our freedom fighters envisioned and nurtured for India,” he posted on XHe added, “For us, the considered judgment of Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru, Sardar Patel, Subhash Chandra Bose, Rajendra Prasad, Acharya Narendra Dev, Maulana Azad, Sarojini Naidu and J B Kripalani – shaped in no small part by the counsel of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore – remains paramount.” The Congress leader urged its allies to honour the wisdom and judgment of the freedom fighters, and stand with the party in singing only the version of the “beautiful and historic song” that it adopted.
The assertion invited a sharp retort from the National Conference, which insisted that Congress cannot dictate terms to its allies“As alliance partner you can’t dictate terms whether to sing or how much to singVenugopal has the right to tweet, but can’t imposeIt is people’s choiceWe are against imposing anything on people,” NC leader Bashir Ahmed said.
Congress launches attack
The Congress intensified its attack on the alliance partner, asking the National Conference not to ‘bow down’ to the ‘Nagpur’ diktat, referring to the RSSCongress leader Kapil Singh said Omar Abdullah and Farooq Abdullah should respect the Congress’s decision as alliance partners instead of following the RSS’s position.
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The BJP criticised the Congress for opposing the full rendition of Vande MataramBJP MP and spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said the party’s objection showed that it had turned into the “Muslim League of the 21st century”The Congress stands “completely isolated” on this issue, Trivedi said“This makes it clear that the ‘dimmagi Naxal’ Congress has now transformed into a ‘Muslim League Congress and has completely surrendered to fundamentalist forces,” the BJP Rajya Sabha MP said.
Congress decides to stick with old rendition
Last month, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) resolved to abide by the party’s 1937 decision on Vande MataramUnder the decision, only two stanzas of the National Song will be sung at Congress events from now on.
The Congress took the decision after the BJP alleged that its leaders had insulted Vande Mataram by refusing to sing the complete version at party programmesThe Centre had earlier this year mandated the playing of all six stanzas of the National Song before Jana Gana Mana at government functions, schools and official ceremonies.
