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PM Narendra Modi in Lok Sabha
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday opened a special debate in the Lok Sabha on Vande Mataram, marking 150 years of the song. Written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and adopted as India’s National Song in 1950, Vande Mataram will be discussed for 10 hours each in both Houses this week during the ongoing winter sessionClick here Winter Session live updatesThe Rajya Sabha will take up the debate on Tuesday, with Union home minister Amit Shah leading for the BJP.PM Modi recently accused the Congress of excluding several stanzas of the song in 1937 and “sowing the seeds of Partition” — a mindset he said still poses a "challenge" to the country.The Congress has countered by invoking Rabindranath Tagore’s support for limiting Vande Mataram to its first two stanzas. The party argues that Jawaharlal Nehru, who became the country's first prime minister in 1947, accepted this position due to the "complexity" of the later verses and "objections" raised by sections of Muslims.Here are top quotes from PM Modi's speech in Lok Sabha:
- "When Vande Mataram completed 50 years, the country was under British rule. It's 100th anniversary coincided with Emergency. The country was in a dark phase."
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