Vande Mataram Row Sparks War of Words Between Congress and National Conference

A war of words has broken out between the Congress and the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference over the singing of the complete version of Vande Mataram. At an event in Srinagar, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and others remained standing while the full song was sung. Congress general secretary KC Venugopal shared a video of the event on social media and objected to the complete rendition, urging National Conference leaders to support the party’s position that only the first two stanzas should be sung.

The National Conference expressed its displeasure with the Congress, stating that an alliance partner cannot impose conditions on another party. It also opposed what it described as an attempt to impose the Congress’s ideological position on the public. Congress leader Kapil Singh countered that Omar Abdullah and Farooq Abdullah are part of the INDIA bloc and should respect decisions taken by the alliance’s partners. The exchange intensified the political debate, with the BJP also targeting Congress over its position on Vande Mataram.