PM is India's greatest distorian: Congress recalls Vande Mataram row

New Delhi: The Congress on Friday dubbed Prime Minister Narendra Modi as "India's greatest distorian" and accused him of attempting to distort the history of the national anthem as well bringing "disrepute" to Rabindranath Tagore during the discussion on Vande Mataram in Parliament last month.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh also alleged that the PM is "systematically demolishing" Mahatma Gandhi's memory and legacy, with the latest instance being the repeal of MGNREGA.

Ramesh made the remarks in a post on X on the 129th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

"During the discussion on the national song last month in Parliament which had left the PM and his colleagues badly bruised and exposed, there had been attempts made to distort the history of the national anthem as well - bringing disrepute to Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore in the process," Ramesh said.

Today on January 23, 2026, the nation celebrates the 129th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, who had played a key role in resolving the controversy surrounding the later verses of Vande Mataram in 1937 which the "PM deliberately suppressed", he said.

Further, Sugata Bose, the eminent historian and his grand-nephew, has written that Netaji had inaugurated the Free India Centre in Berlin on November 2, 1942 and chosen Jana Gana Mana as the national anthem, Ramesh pointed out.

Further it was on October 2, 1943, in Singapore that Netaji chose Jai Hind as the rallying cry of the Azad Hind Govt - a cry that is never given voice to by the PM and his party, he alleged.

"And of course it was Netaji who, in a radio broadcast from Singapore on July 6 1944, first called Mahatma Gandhi as the Father of the Nation - whose memory and legacy the PM is systematically demolishing, with the latest instance being the repeal of MGNREGA," Ramesh charged.

"The PM is India's greatest distorian. That is what entire political science is all about," the Congress general secretary said.

The day-long debate on the 150th anniversary of national song "Vande Mataram" last month saw the treasury and opposition members locked in a verbal duel on a host of issues, including nationalism.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had delivered the Congress' response in a measured but scathing attack to stoutly defend Nehru and the party. She had claimed that the government sought the special discussion keeping in mind the assembly elections in West Bengal next year.

While the Congress and other opposition parties have accused the BJP-led NDA government of rewriting history and giving a political colour to the "Vande Mataram" debate, Modi and other members from the treasury benches had accused the Congress of resorting to appeasement politics.