Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy’s attack on Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s “foreign origin” amid the controversy over the national song Vande Mataram has invited a sharp retort from the Congress.
The BJP on Saturday accused Sonia Gandhi of objecting to the singing of the full version of ‘Vande Mataram’ at the party’s Independence Day event.
Kumaraswamy, who is the Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel, on Monday strongly criticised Congress leader Sonia Gandhi over alleged opposition to singing Vande Mataram , saying everyone should respect the national song. However, the Congress denied the charge, asserting that there was no attempt to stop the singing of the full version of the national song and that Gandhi was only asking for a chair for party chief Mallikarjun Kharge as he had been standing for a while.
He added that the Congress did not seem to like Vande Mataram and said there was no need for its leaders to display “narrow-mindedness” on the issue. Hitting back at Kumaraswamy, Karnataka Minister Rizwan Arshad called him a “frustrated man” and said that Sonia Gandhi is “more Indian than many Indians”. Sharing video footage of the Congress’ event on X, BJP national general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh said, “Mother, son and national president (of the Congress) seem to be upset by the rendering of full Vande Mataram .”
