New Delhi, Aug 19:
After the BJP accused him of singing “incomplete” ‘Vande Mataram’, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge hit back on Tuesday, saying he sang the same version that was followed by national leaders, including Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Talking to reporters in South Goa, Kharge said if singing the version he did was a crime, cases should also be filed against the leaders who had sung it the same way.
The ruling BJP has alleged that the Congress chief sang an “incomplete” version of the national song during his public meeting in South Goa on Monday, and accused the grand old party of disrespecting the national song.
Speaking over the controversy, Kharge said, “I sang the ‘Vande Mataram’ which Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru sang…the same song which Vallabhbhai Patel and Atal Bihari Vajpayee sang. If that is the crime, then file a case against Gandhiji, Nehru and Vallabhbhai Patel.”
Kharge said the BJP was unaware of the historical decisions taken by the Congress on the national song and the national anthem.
“They don’t know that before they were born, the Congress had passed the resolution to decide about the national song and the national anthem,” he said.
The Congress president said he had followed the version of ‘Vande Mataram’ that had been sung for decades.
“I did what has been happening for the last 80 years,” Kharge said.