Not playing Vande Mataram in the Himachal Pradesh legislative assembly on the commencement of the monsoon session on Friday became the latest flashpoint between Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Amid BJP’s accusations against Congress insulting Vande Mataram, chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu accused the BJP MLAs of disrespecting the National Anthem in the state assembly.
“CM must clearly understand that the country is governed by the Constitution and laws passed by Parliament, not by the ‘dictates’ of the Congress Working Committee. He added that the disruption had deprived legislators of an opportunity to raise issues concerning the public during the session. He noted that the ‘Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026,’ mandating the singing of all stanzas of ‘Vande Mataram,’ has become law after being passed by both Houses of Parliament and receiving the President’s assent. Under this law, Section 3 has been amended to provide for penalties against anyone who insults the National Song—alongside the National Anthem—or disrupts its rendition.
“The days of insulting symbols of national identity and pride for the sake of appeasement are over,” he said. “A law has recently been made in Parliament that the National Song, Vande Mataram, should be sung in its complete form, not merely two stanzas,” he said, adding that BJP members repeatedly requested the Speaker to consider the demand but the same was ignored. “As leader of the House and chief minister, he (CM) should have taken the lead and said that the complete National Song should be sung. That would have created a new tradition,” Parmar said.
The LoP, in a statement issued on Friday, said that the CM must respect the law enacted by Parliament.
Shimla Lashing out at Congress for not insisting on singing just two stanzas of Vande Mataram, former chief minister and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Jai Ram Thakur said that no tampering with ‘Vande Mataram’ will be tolerated.
We could not have expected the BJP to disrespect the National Anthem,” Sukhu said. Sukhu said neither the BJP nor its Himachal Pradesh unit had the right to disrespect the National Anthem and asserted that people would “never forgive” such conduct. “It is a matter of great regret that the BJP today insulted the National Anthem in the House.
