"We will give you a stage...come forward and sing": Sanjay Raut invites PM Modi to recite Vande Mataram

"First, ask Modi ji to come forward and sing it (the national song) in its entirety. Without looking at the teleprompter. Get Jay Shah to come forward and tell him to sing. Then Modi ji will sing, then Amit Shah will sing. Then Jitan Ram Manjhi will sing. Whose name should I take? Come to August Kranti Maidan. We will give you a stage. But there won't be a teleprompter," Raut said while addressing a presser here.

He further criticised the Centre over its track record, questioning the economic relief and welfare measures delivered to citizens over more than a decade under the leadership of the Prime Minister.

The UBT Sena MP accused the administration of failing to control inflation and neglecting the struggles of ordinary citizens.

"In these 12 years, what has become cheaper? It has been 12 years under Modi ji. What has become cheaper? Death has become cheap. Accidents have become cheap. Suicides have become cheap. Nothing else has. Regarding sugarcane used for making sugar, the entire supply is now being diverted towards ethanol production," Raut said.

Raut further insisted that leaders should instead engage in dialogue with the youth and their household kitchens to witness genuine hardship.

"You told your ministers to go to universities and have a 'dialogue' with GenZ. Go to those children's homes, into their kitchens, and have a dialogue with their mothers and fathers," he said.

This comes after Congress leader Rakesh Sinha criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) resolution, saying it was against the legacy of several national leaders.

Speaking to ANI, he said, "It is an opposition to the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, and Rabindranath Tagore. It appears that the followers of Godse are once again trying to oppose these national leaders over Vande Mataram. These are people who apologised to the British and received pensions from them."

On the other hand, the BJP passed a major resolution in honour of the historic legacy of Vande Mataram and said that it will lead a nationwide campaign to raise awareness around the history and significance of the national song.

The party strongly condemned the Congress Working Committee's (CWC) decision taken on August 19 to re-adopt its 1937 resolution that restricts the singing of Vande Mataram to only its first two stanzas at Congress programmes.

The BJP stated that it considers Vande Mataram as India's national song, an expression of reverence for Bharat Mata, the mantra of the freedom struggle, and the immortal symbol of India's national consciousness.

The BJP's resolution mentioned that the party will strongly oppose the Congress's decision to limit Vande Mataram to two stanzas.

It aims to protect the honour, dignity, and legacy of the full six-stanza Vande Mataram, reaffirming the 1950 Constituent Assembly declaration and the law passed by Parliament giving statutory protection to the national song on par with Jana Gana Mana.

BJP workers will run a nationwide campaign to take the history, meaning and national importance of Vande Mataram to every corner of the country. A special awareness drive will be held among the youth so that the full National Song is not forgotten and future generations understand its deep link with India's freedom, struggle and sacrifice. No compromise on Vande Mataram's honour will be accepted for political convenience, the resolution said.

Earlier on Wednesday, the CWC also decided that only the first two stanzas of the national song would be sung at party events, citing the party's own 1937 resolution.

The decision followed days of controversy after the BJP accused Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party parliamentary chairperson Sonia Gandhi of conversing while the national song was being rendered during Independence Day celebrations on August 15, and demanded a public apology.

After the CWC meeting, Congress MP KC Venugopal said the party's stand on the recitation of Vande Mataram was clear and that it would follow the decisions taken by Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in 1937. (ANI)