"Extreme Appeasement": Amit Shah Blasts Congress Over Full Vande Mataram Snub

Shah said that the Congress' decision was not merely symbolic but a repetition of a historical error that had contributed to the partition of India.

20 Aug 2026, 07:31 · NDTV

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Home Minister Amit Shah accused Congress of appeasement by limiting Vande Mataram to two stanzas
Shah linked Congress's 1937 resolution to Muslim appeasement and India's partition
The Modi government mandated singing the full Vande Mataram at official functions this year

What is the historical background of the 1937 Congress resolution?
New Delhi:

Amid the ongoing showdown between the BJP and the Congress over Vande Mataram, Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday launched a sharp attack on the opposition party. Shah accused the Congress of reviving its "extreme policy of appeasement" after the Congress Working Committee (CWC) decided to sing only two stanzas of Vande Mataram, in line with the party's 1936-37 resolution.

Shah said that the decision was not merely symbolic but a repetition of a historical error that had contributed to the partition of India.

"Yesterday, the Congress Party Working Committee took a surprising and anti-national decision. Following their party's resolution of 1937, they have decided to sing only two stanzas of the great song, Vande Mataram. I want to remind the entire country that in 1937, for Muslim appeasement, the Congress party laid the foundation for the partition of the country by dividing Vande Mataram into two. From there, the two-nation theory gained strength and eventually, the country was partitioned and Pakistan was born," Shah said.

"Today, when the Narendra Modi government has corrected that historical mistake in the 150th year of Vande Mataram's composition, and tried to strengthen national integration by singing the entire song. The decision to sing it in full in all government functions has been given legal form as well. Yesterday, Congress decided to ignore it. This decision by Congress only confirms their extreme policy of appeasement. For vote bank appeasement, they have not only insulted the immortal work of the late Bankim Babu, but also millions of martyrs who went to the gallows for the country's independence while chanting Vande Mataram, and spent many years in jail," he added.

Read | "Book Mahatma Gandhi Too": Congress Chief On Complaint Over Vande Mataram Row

Earlier this year, the Centre made it mandatory to sing Vande Mataram in its entirety at public gatherings, schools, and official government functions, among others. It also passed a bill in Parliament which made intentionally obstructing, disrupting, or preventing the singing of Vande Mataram a criminal offence.

Shah credited the PM Narendra Modi government with reversing what he called a decades-old wrong, noting the significance of the anniversary. He also criticised the Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and the Congress and called on the people to raise their voice against the party's stand.

"Today, the Congress party is accepting its party resolution of 1937 and rejecting the Act of Parliament. I'm quite surprised that under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, the Congress party is once again vigorously promoting the politics of appeasement in this country. I want to appeal to the people of this country that once this country made the mistake of letting Vande Mataram be divided into two, and we have suffered grave consequences of that mistake. Now the people of the country should unite and raise their voices against this decision of the Congress party, that politics of appeasement will no longer work in this country. This is a free country, 80 years after independence, the people of this country will not tolerate any opposition to what the Narendra Modi government has corrected, regarding the decision Congress made in 1937. The Bharatiya Janata Party strongly condemns this decision of the Congress party, and we will vigorously oppose it among the public and in legislative assemblies," he said.

Read | Congress Firm On 2-Stanza Vande Mataram, BJP Calls Party "Muslim League"

On Wednesday the Congress Working Committee decided that only the first two stanzas of the national song would be sung at party events, citing the party's own 1937 resolution.

The decision followed days of controversy after the BJP accused party parliamentary chairperson Sonia Gandhi of attempting to stop the rendition of the national song during Independence Day celebrations on August 15, and demanded a public apology. The Congress denied the charge.

After the CWC meeting, Congress MP KC Venugopal said the party's stand on the recitation of Vande Mataram was clear and that it would follow the decisions taken by Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in 1937.

The Congress has fiercely defended its stance with party president Mallikarjun Kharge earlier mocking Amit Shah and questioning the BJP-RSS contribution to India's freedom struggle.

Kharge said the BJP repeatedly talks about the Gandhi family and Sonia Gandhi. Drawing a contrast in political experience, he said he had been an MLA even before Union Home Minister Amit Shah was born.

Taking a dig at Shah, he said, "When I became an MLA, Amit Shah was not even born yet. How old is he? How old is he? Is he 57 or 58? These people are 56 or 57 years old. Our people fought for the freedom of the country. You fought? Tell me. Which BJP man fought for the freedom of this country? Which RSS man fought for the freedom of this country? And we are not patriots? These people are against the country. Anti-India. You are anti-India".

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