BSP chief Mayawati urged parties to end the 'Vande Mataram' controversy, calling it a political tactic to divert public attention from governance failures, unemployment, and other pressing national issues.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Friday urged parties to end the controversy over "Vande Mataram", terming it a needless debate that takes focus away from urgent national concerns.
'Political Strategy to Divert Attention'
Commenting on the recent Parliamentary law and the ensuing friction, she said the practice of amending national laws with every power shift has turned into a standard political strategy driven by electoral calculations. In a post on X, the BSP chief noted that ruling and opposition parties frequently alter or challenge enacted legislation depending on whether they are in power at the Centre or in the states.
"The ongoing politics in the country right now regarding whether to sing the full "Vande Mataram," or just the first two stanzas (paragraphs), or not to sing it at all--this is not right, and in this matter, our party's stance is that the recent law passed in Parliament on singing "Vande Mataram" is not happening for the first time," she said.
A political row was ignited by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which accused Congress leaders, including Party President Mallikarjun Kharge and Sonia Gandhi, of disrespecting the National Song by rendering an "incomplete" version during recent party events in Delhi and Goa.
The BSP chief alleged that such ideological debates are repeatedly manufactured to divert public scrutiny from governance failures, rising administrative shortcomings, and core socio-economic challenges. "Because during changes in power at the center and in the states, all parties keep doing this sort of thing based on their political interests/benefits or to divert the public's attention from their own shortcomings--that is, they keep changing each other's enacted laws," added Mayawati.
Focus on Urgent National Crisis
Mayawati urged central and state governments, as well as all political parties, to rise above symbolic disputes and direct immediate attention to the urgent national crisis. She urged the Government that policy priority and administrative resources must be urgently directed toward tackling youth unemployment, to support both male and female students of Gen-Z, while ensuring basic educational infrastructure for schoolchildren of Gen-Alpha.
"Whereas at this time, the central and all state governments, as well as all political parties, should properly pay appropriate attention to issues concerning the country and public interest--and especially to unemployed youth and male-female students of 'Gen-Z,' schoolchildren of 'Gen-Alpha,' and the severe loss of life and property due to the devastating floods that have struck some parts of the country right now, among many other extremely important issues--this is also the most urgent demand of the times in the current interest of the country and the people," she added.
Congress's Stance on National Song
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the Congress Working Committee decided that only the first two stanzas of the national song would be sung at party events, citing the party's 1937 resolution. (ANI)
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