Akhilesh Yadav criticised the BJP for claiming exclusive nationalism and politicising Vande Mataram during a special Lok Sabha session
New Delhi
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday launched a sharp attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing the ruling party of attempting to own everything and claim exclusive nationalism, which he termed Rashtra-vivadi (anti-national). Speaking during a special session of the Lok Sabha convened to mark 150 years of the national song Vande Mataram, Yadav emphasised that the song belonged to every Indian and must never be reduced to a political tool.
In his address, Yadav recalled the deep historical significance of Vande Mataram, stating that its roots in India’s freedom struggle should remain above partisan narratives. When in Kolkata, Congress leaders and Rabindranath Tagore sang this, it reached the common people, and when people fought against the British, the slogan of Vande Mataram played a major role in uniting them, he said. He noted that the song had once alarmed British authorities to the extent that they jailed people under sedition charges for chanting it. From 1905 to 1908, Vande Mataram was banned by the British, but they could not stop our revolution, and our freedom fighters kept taking it forward, he added.
Targeting the BJP’s ideological positioning, Yadav alleged that the ruling party wanted to own everything, including ideas and values it had no historical connection with. He referred to earlier debates during the formation of the BJP and the ideological direction its early leadership chose to follow. When the organisation was being formed, there was a debate on whether the BJP would walk the secular and socialist path or not.
