Vande Mataram Row: Has Indian Politics Turned Patriotism Into a Political Weapon?

India’s political debate over Vande Mataram has once again turned a national symbol into the centre of a fierce BJP–Congress confrontation.

The controversy intensified after the Congress Working Committee (CWC) reaffirmed that the party would sing only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram at its events, referring to the position adopted by the Congress in 1937.

The BJP has strongly criticised the decision. Home Minister Amit Shah called it an “anti-national” decision and accused Congress of reviving what he described as its politics of appeasement. BJP leaders have also connected the 1937 decision with the political circumstances preceding Partition.

Congress, however, argues that its position has a historical basis rather than being a rejection of patriotism. The first two stanzas have long been the portion used in public settings, while the later verses contain religious imagery that historically generated objections.

This is where the political debate becomes complicated.

Vande Mataram is not merely another song. It played an important role in India’s freedom movement and was accorded the status of the National Song in 1950, alongside the National Anthem’s special constitutional position.

Yet patriotism becomes politically dangerous when parties begin treating their interpretation of national symbols as the only legitimate form of nationalism.

The real question is therefore not simply who respects Vande Mataram more. It is whether India’s political discourse can honour national symbols without turning patriotism into a test of political loyalty.

In a democracy, love for the country should unite citizens—not become another weapon for political polarisation.