AMID the ongoing controversy over the rendition of Vande Mataram at the party headquarters, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday questioned the basis of a complaint filed against party leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, saying that if singing the national song in its previous version was a crime, then complaints should also be filed against Mahatma Gandhi, and former Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Atal Behari Vajpayee. The remarks came after an alleged dramatic episode at the Congress headquarters, Indira Bhavan, on Saturday, where the full version of Vande Mataram was sung despite the party’s stated position that only its first two stanzas would be rendered. A complaint was also filed on Monday with the Delhi Police against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, seeking registration of an FIR over an alleged attempt to disrupt the singing of Vande Mataram during the Independence Day celebrations at the Congress headquarters.

 

Speaking to reporters, Kharge said: “Well, look, what complaint will they file? We sang the same Vande Mataram that Mahatma Gandhi sang. We sang what Jawaharlal Nehru sang. For the last 18 years, we have sung what they sang, including what their Central government under Vajpayee sang. And for 12 years, as Chief Minister, he (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) also sang the same Vande Mataram that he has been singing all these years.” STOP CLAIMING MONOPOLY AS CUSTODIAN OF FREEDOM MOVEMENT:BJP:STEPPING up its attack on the Congress party over the conduct of its senior party leaders during the recitation of the National Song Vande Mataram at the Independence Day event at Indira Bhawan (Congress headquarters), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday asked the former to “stop claiming monopoly as the custodian of freedom movement.” This comes a day after Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge criticised the BJP and RSS during a party convention in Goa.