As Prime Minister Narendra Modi entered the Lok Sabha to initiate a discussion on 150 years of the national song Vande Mataram, he was greeted with chants of “Bihar ki jeet hamari hai, ab Bengal ki baari hai” by BJP members. The message was clear—after the BJP/NDA’s resounding victory in Bihar, the party had its sights set on West Bengal, where elections are due next year.
The song seems to have emerged as a key political tool, reflecting the intense contestation over identity, history, and electoral politics in poll-bound West Bengal. While the Congress views the timing of the debate as a diversionary tactic, the BJP defends it as a celebration of the 150th anniversary of ‘Vande Mataram’, emphasising its role in “India’s fight against colonial rule and its cultural significance.”
Accusing the BJP of politicising the national song “with an eye on the election in Bengal,” Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra called the debate an attempt to divert public attention from pressing issues such as price rise and unemployment
Written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in the 1870s, the poem—composed in Sanskritised Bengali—was later adopted as the national song and was first published in 1882 as part of Chatterjee’s Bengali novel Anandamath.
This is not the first time Vande Mataram has been invoked as a symbol of patriotism and national pride. During the 2021 West Bengal elections, PM Modi referenced the song to talk about the state’s historic role in the independence movement. The aim was also to challenge the ruling Trinamool Congress by emphasising cultural nationalism and linking the BJP’s development narrative to historical legacy.
The saffron contentions range from accusing the Congress of diluting the song’s significance to projecting itself as the real torchbearer of national pride. In Parliament today, the Prime Minister recalled that when the British partitioned Bengal, Vande Mataram “stood like a rock.” He also accused the Congress—particularly former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru—of “bowing” to Muslim League leader Mohammed Ali Jinnah’s contention that the song could “irritate” Muslims.
But his reference to Bankim Chandra Chatterjee as “Bankim da” did not go down well with the Trinamool Congress. Party MP Saugata Roy corrected him, saying that “da”—short for ”dada”, meaning brother in everyday usage—cannot be and suggested using “babu” instead. PM Modi responded, “I will say ‘Bankim Babu’. Thank you, I respect your sentiments,” and asked if he could still refer to Roy as ”dada”.
Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi also invoked Bengal’s role in the national movement, noting that his party ensured the song was not merely a political slogan but was accorded the status of a national song. It was at the 1896 Calcutta Session of the Congress that Rabindranath Tagore first sang Vande Mataram, Gogoi pointed out.
Meanwhile, it remains to be seen how the West Bengal electorate responds to this latest saffron effort.