Amid the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) onslaught against Sonia Gandhi for allegedly attempting to halt the singing of Vande Mataram midway during an Independence Day event, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge sang the national song in Goa on Monday – though only the first two stanzas.
The Congress denied the allegation, asserting that the full version of Vande Mataram had been sung at the event. The party maintained that Sonia Gandhi was merely asking for a chair for Kharge, who had been standing for a while. Union Minister Amit Shah spearheaded the attack on the Congress veteran on Independence Day, alleging that the party’s leadership had shown utter disrespect to the national song at the party headquarters in Delhi. He demanded an apology from the Opposition party. “While the song was in progress, Congress leader Sonia ji asked the Congress president to stop it. “How could anyone even imagine leaving the singing of Vande Mataram incomplete? “This is a pack of lies. Sonia Gandhi did not do that.
We all watched this happen on TV,” Shah said. Congress members should be ashamed,” Shah said at a public gathering in Rajasthan’s Chittorgarh last week. Our Congress president is not in good health; he cannot stand for long periods… so, Sonia Gandhi gestured regarding the management of the proceedings, not to stop the singing of Vande Mataram,” Congress leader Udit Raj had said.
The recitation by Kharge and other leaders took place before the start of a Goa Congress convention.
