'Decision to use first two stanzas of Vande Mataram was not of Nehru alone': Mallikarjun Kharge

New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday accused BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, of insulting Jawaharlal Nehru, as he said the decision to use only the first two stanzas of 'Vande Mataram' as the national song was collectively taken by leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore.

As the ruling BJP accused the Congress of 'dividing' the song written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Kharge countered the ruling party, saying that Congress leaders have always been chanting 'Vande Mataram'.

Speaking just after Home Minister Amit Shah attacked Congress, alleging that the politics of appeasement was behind the decision to use only two stanzas of the poem as the national song, Kharge started his address, raising the slogan 'Vande Mataram'.

"We have always been singing Vande Mataram. But those who did not sing Vande Mataram have also started singing it now. It is the power of Vande Mataram. It is a national festival, not a debate," he said.

"When the non-cooperation movement was started in 1921, Congress members were going to jail chanting Vande Mataram... What were you doing? You were working for the British," Kharge said.

"You are teaching patriotism to us? You were scared of patriotism and were serving the British. PM Modi leaves no opportunity to insult Jawaharlal Nehru, nor does the Home Minister... I heard the Prime Minister blamed Nehru for stanzas being removed...," he added.

Kharge said the resolution to sing only two stanzas of the poem, which was passed by the Congress working committee, was not done by Nehru alone, and leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Subhash Chandra Bose, Madan Mohan Malaviya, and Acharya JB Kripalani were present.

The Congress president also quoted Tagore, who said he found "no difficulty" in dissociating the first two stanzas of the poem with the rest of the song.

"You are insulting all these tall leaders. It was their combined decision. Why do you target Nehruji alone?" he said.