MARGAO
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday accused the BJP of unnecessarily creating an issue over the rendition of Vande Mataram, saying he had sung the national song in the same manner as Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.
Kharge questioned whether the BJP would also file cases against Gandhi, Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel for singing the national song in a similar manner. “The BJP government has been singing the national song for the last 18 years. The Vajpayee government had sung the same song. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also sung the same national song for 12 years when he was Chief Minister. If the BJP feels I have done something wrong, the BJP government, including Vajpayee and Modi, must have also committed a similar wrong,” he said.
Kharge said he would not accept what he described as an attempt to impose a particular version of the song. I have not committed any wrong. I have only sung the national song in the manner in which it has been sung for the last 90 years,” he said.
Kharge also reminded the BJP that the Congress had passed a resolution on the rendition of Vande Mataram as the national song at a time when many of those now raising the issue had not even been born.
