Calling the debate on Vande Mataram an attention-diverting tactic of the government, Congress MP from Wayanad Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said on Monday that the national song is a part of the country’s soul and “there can be no debate on it”.
During a special discussion on the song in Lok Sabha, the Congress MP said the “needless” discussion had been called by the ruling party with the dual intention of setting a narrative ahead of the Bengal Assembly elections and levelling new allegations against freedom fighters to divert public attention.
She said the government does not want discussion of the current challenges facing the nation – youths are suffering due to paper leaks and joblessness, reservations are being denied to the needy, women are being wronged, and pollution – and wants to dig up developments from the past and divert public attention.
“The truth is that their rule and politics are about arrogance, show off, event management and from poll to poll,” she said, daring the government to hold a debate on current issues due to which people are unhappy. She said even members of the ruling dispensation are unhappy with the government due to the excessive centralisation of power.
During her address, Priyanka Gandhi showered rare praise on PM Modi on two counts. One, for his oratory qualities, even though his speeches are long, and second, for his policies and self-confidence during his early years as the Prime Minister. Her acerbic criticism of the government revolved around her claims that PM Modi has started appearing less confident than in his early years in office, and his foreign policy was earning the nation a bad name on the global stage.
Countering PM Modi’s criticism of former PM Jawaharlal Nehru in the context of Vande Mataram, she said the Prime Minister did not share key facts about the decisions taken on the song between national leaders, including Dr B.R. Ambedkar and Subhas Chandra Bose, presenting only one side of the story.
She also read out a letter of Nehru in which he had called out communal mentality for the demand to drop some parts of Vande Mataram. The Congress leader said the national song is and will remain in the blood of the Congress, which does not want to be dragged into a futile debate related to developments of the past.