BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari slammed the Congress over the controversy surrounding the recitation of Vande Mataram at the party office and questioned the absence of its leaders from the Independence Day celebrations at the Red Fort.
Responding to Congress MP Manoj Kumar’s remarks defending the party, on Saturday, Bhandari questioned the “angry facial expressions” of Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi during the event.
The BJP leader told ANI, “If this is the case, then why were the facial expressions of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi so angry? If this is the case, then why didn’t Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi come to the Red Fort when India celebrated its 80th Independence Day… If this is the case, then why is Pawan Khera saying that only the entire Vande Mataram should not be observed? The main thing is that the mentality of the Congress Party today is the mentality of Naxalites. This proves that Congress today is no longer the Indian National Congress; it has become a mindless Naxalite Congress.”
Earlier in the day, Congress MP Manoj Kumar defended the party’s decision to recite only two lines of Vande Mataram at the Congress headquarters.
“Our ‘mahapurush’ (great leaders) had decided to recite two lines from Vande Mataram. Sonia Gandhi tried to tell us about it today. We too did not know about it. But I thank our leader who told us about it. After this, we will follow what our great leaders have said,” Kumar said.
Kumar also rejected the BJP’s allegation that Congress had insulted Vande Mataram, pointing out that the full version of the national song had recently been sung in Parliament.
“BJP is alleging that we had insulted Vande Mataram. Did we not sing the full version of Vande Mataram in Parliament recently? Our leader wanted to stop us, but we completed it. We did not stop midway. This is unnecessary. BJP is trying to divert attention from the main issue.”
The exchange comes amid a political row over Vande Mataram’s recital at the Congress headquarters on Independence Day, with the BJP and Congress trading jibes over the issue.