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Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh on Friday tore into BJP RS MP JP Nadda for his speech during the discussion on Vande Mataram in the upper house. Ramesh alleged that the BJP's strategy to pit Rabindranath Tagore against Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay had backfired.
"Yesterday in the Rajya Sabha, after distorting and twisting history, the Leader of the House and President of the BJP JP Nadda ji put forward his main demand: that the national song and the national anthem should have the same status. I had to interject to remind him that way back on Jan 24, 1950, in the final sitting of the Constituent Assembly, its President Dr. Rajendra Prasad had announced that Jana Gana Mana and Vande Mataram "shall be honoured equally...and shall have equal status..." The BJP's strategy to pit Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay against Rabindranath Tagore and insult the Gurudev has spectacularly backfired," he posted on X. Earlier on Thursday, addressing the Rajya Sabha, Nadda questioned the process of categorising 'Jana Gana Mana' as the national anthem and 'Vande Mataram' as the national song. He said, "The final meeting of the Constituent Assembly was held on January 24, 1950, to sign three copies of the Constitution. In it, without any discussion and without any notice, a statement was read out, in which the decision regarding India's national anthem was announced. 'Jana Gana Mana' was declared as India's national anthem, and it was also stated that 'Vande Mataram' would be accorded the same respect as 'Jana Gana Mana'. Whether this decision can be called a constitutional process and a democratic decision is left to the constitution-makers." "Jawaharlal Nehru was entirely responsible for what happened during the selection of India's national anthem in the Constituent Assembly, and for the indifference and neglect towards Vande Mataram," he added. He further alleged that the national song never received the respect it deserved, holding the Indian leaders prior to Independence responsible for it. Meanwhile, Jairam Ramesh also mounted a fresh attack on Union Home Minister Amit Shah. In a post on X, Ramesh alleged that the Home Minister had lied in the Lok Sabha. "The eminent historian-author and ex-MP Rajmohan Gandhi exposes one blatant lie told by the Union Home Minister yesterday in the Lok Sabha. Rajmohan's paternal grandfather was the Mahatma while his maternal grandfather was C. Rajagopalachari," he said in his post. On Wednesday, tensions in the Lok Sabha escalated when Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi engaged in a heated exchange over allegations of "vote chori". (ANI)
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