Opposition MPs lashed out at the Government on Monday over the “Vande Mataram” debate in the Lok Sabha, calling it an attempt at diverting attention and dividing the country. Some of them also claimed that the debate was started keeping in mind next year’s West Bengal Assembly polls.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accused the BJP of committing a “big sin” by creating a controversy over Vande Mataram and claimed that the Government pushed for a debate on the national song as the West Bengal assembly polls were approaching. She hit out at PM Modi, saying “he is not the prime minister he used to be, as his self-confidence is decreasing and his policies are weakening the country”.

Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav also hit out at the BJP, claiming that those who did not participate in the freedom struggle were now talking of the values of “Vande Mataram” and asserted that the national song should not be used as a tool to impose one’s beliefs on others. He said that “Vande Mataram” should be followed in spirit, as it is a song which bonded people during the freedom struggle. He also questioned how individuals who did not participate in the freedom struggle could truly understand the meaning of “Vande Mataram.”

Priyanka Gandhi said the Government wanted the debate to divert attention from people’s problems and make fresh allegations against those who sacrificed for the country’s freedom. “... Whatever complaints you have against (Jawaharlal) Nehru, whatever mistakes you think he made... If you want to hurl abuses, if you want to insult as much as you like, please make a list of that too... 999 insults, 9,999 insults... Make a list, and then we will fix a time.

“Just like we debated for 10 hours today on Vande Mataram, in the same way, we will ask the Speaker, we will fix a time – 10 hours, 20 hours, 40 hours, however many hours it takes for your complaint to be fully addressed,” she said. “Let’s close the chapter for once and all. After that, let’s talk about today’s issues — price rise and unemployment,” she added.

Launching a strong defence of India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, who was repeatedly criticised by treasury bench members during the debate, Priyanka Gandhi said Prime Minister Modi has been the country’s PM for about 12 years, while Jawaharlal Nehru had spent as many years in jail for the independence of the country.

Priyanka Gandhi said that though PM Modi gives a good speech, there is one shortcoming that he is “weak on facts”.

In all the sessions of the Congress from 1905 till now, Vande Mataram is sung, but does that happen in BJP conventions, she asked.

“Modi ji mentioned a letter in the House, in which he said that on October 20, Nehru ji had written to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. But the Prime Minister did not mention the letter written on October 17, which Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose ji had written to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru ji.

“Netaji had written ‘My dear Jawahar, reference to Vande Mataram. We shall have a talk in Kolkata and also discuss the question in the Working Committee, if you bring it up there. I have written to Dr. Tagore to discuss this matter with you when you visit Shantiniketan. Please do not forget to have a talk with him when you visit Shantiniketan,” she said.

“On October 20, Nehru had replied to it. PM Modi quoted one line of this reply here, but the rest of what Nehru ji wrote was 1 ‘There is no doubt that the present outcry against Vande Mataram is to a large extent a manufactured one by the Communalists. Whatever we do, we cannot pander to Communalist feelings’,” she said.

She then cited Tagore’s letter to Nehru in which he stated that the two stanzas that were always sung held such profound significance that there was no difficulty in separating that part from the rest of the poem and those sections of the book. She said there was no reason to have a debate on the national song and alleged that “we are having this debate as Bengal polls are coming and the prime minister wants to play his role in that”. TMC’s Kalyan Banerjee said the way PM Modi addressed author Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay was very “disturbing”.

“The way he addressed the great author, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, it was really disturbing. Actually, not only Narendra Modi or (Home Minister) Amit Shah, BJP people are Bengali haters,” he said.