Karnataka Vande Mataram Row Escalates as Kharge Dares BJP and PIL Challenges Order
Karnataka's Vande Mataram row deepens as Priyank Kharge defends the two-stanza order, dares BJP leaders, and a PIL challenges the state directive.
The dispute over the singing of Vande Mataram in Karnataka has intensified, with Home Minister and Congress leader Priyank Kharge defending his government's decision to restrict the national song to two stanzas at official events and directly challenging the BJP's demand for all six.
Addressing a gathering, Kharge threw down a gauntlet to BJP leaders B Y Vijayendra and R Ashoka, asking them to sing all the stanzas of Vande Mataram without the help of a teleprompter or a written script. He said that if they managed the feat, he would resign.
The minister also took aim at the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the issue, invoking the country's historical figures. He asked whether those now pressing for all stanzas considered themselves greater than Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhash Chandra Bose and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, noting that the forefathers had decided only two stanzas would be sung.
The row traces back to a Union Home Ministry directive issued in January, which required that all six stanzas of Vande Mataram be sung before the National Anthem, Jana Gana Mana, whenever both are played together. The instruction was issued as the Centre marked the 150th year of the national song.
In response, the Congress Working Committee resolved on August 19 to adhere to its 1937 resolution, under which only two stanzas are sung at party events. Karnataka's decision to limit the song to two stanzas at official state functions followed, drawing sharp criticism from the opposition BJP in the state, which described the move as appeasement politics.
On Tuesday, the controversy reached the courts, with a Public Interest Litigation filed before the Karnataka High Court challenging the state government's order. The plea, moved by advocate Girish Bharadwaj, contends that the directive contradicts instructions from the Union government.
The petition states that the Ministry of Home Affairs, through a letter dated July 9, 2026, circulated orders relating to the national song to all states for strict compliance. It argues that the Union government's directions prescribe the official version of Vande Mataram as the complete composition in six stanzas and require that version to be recited during mass singing.
The petitioner has also argued that the Karnataka government's order runs contrary to the Union government's prescribed version of the national song and has sought to have it quashed.