New Delhi, Aug 18 (IANS) 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, asking which of their leaders fought for India's independence? Addressing a press conference, BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad cited that only two stanzas of the national song were sung at the Goa event of the Congress chief, a day before.

Questioning the "mentality" of the Congress, the BJP leader said: "If the party keeps doing such a thing with the national song, then it should better stop claiming monopoly as the custodian of freedom movement." Recalling the history of the national song 'Vande Mataram', he alleged, "The Congress had made a pact with the Muslim League in 1936-37 and maybe because of this, the Muslim League pressurised (the Congress) to sing only the first two stanzas of the song as the rest of it will 'hurt its religious sentiments'."

On January 24, 1950, Dr. Rajendra Prasad had declared the Jan Gan Man as the national anthem and Vande Mataram as the national song. He observed that despite the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Act, 2026, the Congress is still "opposing" the rendition of the full version of the national song. Responding to Kharge's charge on the freedom struggle, Prasad said: "I want to ask him whether Dr. Rajendra Prasad was a freedom fighter or not and whether or not he had made this announcement in the Constituent Assembly in 1950?" "Then whom is he (Kharge) making fun of and why?" he questioned

The BJP leader further remarked that the Congress is still "troubled" with the same mindset with which it had signed a pact with the Muslim League. "They (League) went to Pakistan along with (Mohammed Ali) Jinnah but these people (Congress) are still carrying the same mindset," he added. Moreover, Prasad alleged that due to vote bank politics, the Congress leaders are leaving their own culture behind, "since the BJP did not exist during the freedom struggle".

Adding to the criticism, he said: "The Congress opposed the Triple Talaq Act and staged a walkout during discussions on the Vande Mataram and abolition of Article 370. So, the Congress backs out whenever issues related to national interest clash with vote bank." Displaying the mentions of Lord Ram, his brother Laxman, Goddess Sita, Lord Hanuman and the Hindu deity Nataraj in a copy of the Constitution, Ravi Shankar Prasad asked Kharge and Sonia Gandhi: "What do have to say about this? Is this a disregard of religious sentiments? You are forgetting the principles of your party which existed during the freedom movement."

Meanwhile, Ravi Shankar Prasad also issued a clarification over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'dimagi Naxal' remark during his Independence day address, two days after Union Minister Kiren Rijiju also did the same. "Had the Prime Minister named anyone while making the 'dimagi Naxal' remark? He had just cautioned the country to be careful of 'dimagi Naxals'." "The PM's statement was aimed at those who provide intellectual stimulus to Maoism, write in their favour and provide financial assistance to them. The nation should be careful of them too," he added. While saying that the opposition parties are "competing to take the remark on themselves", Prasad noted that so far Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav has not done that.

--IANS