{"id":23493,"date":"2025-11-08T03:59:21","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T03:59:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/08\/vande-mataram-row-bjp-tmc-clash-over-bengal-icons-tagore-and-bankim-chandra-politics-news\/"},"modified":"2025-11-08T03:59:21","modified_gmt":"2025-11-08T03:59:21","slug":"vande-mataram-row-bjp-tmc-clash-over-bengal-icons-tagore-and-bankim-chandra-politics-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/08\/vande-mataram-row-bjp-tmc-clash-over-bengal-icons-tagore-and-bankim-chandra-politics-news\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Vande Mataram\u2019 Row: BJP, TMC Clash Over Bengal Icons Tagore And Bankim Chandra | Politics News"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Last Updated:<\/span>

BJP accused the TMC of neglecting Bankim Chandra, while Trinamool said the saffron party showed little respect for Bengal\u2019s cultural pride<\/h2>\n
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\"Karnataka<\/p>\n

Karnataka BJP leader Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri claimed that \u201cVande Mataram should have been the national anthem\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

A new political confrontation has erupted in West Bengal between the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), this time over two of Bengal\u2019s most revered cultural icons, Rabindranath Tagore and Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.<\/p>\n

The controversy was triggered after Karnataka BJP leader Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri claimed that \u201cVande Mataram should have been the national anthem”. Kageri, a former Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, sparked a row by suggesting that India\u2019s national anthem, Jana Gana Mana<\/em>, was originally written as a \u201cwelcome song for British officials”. He made these remarks at an event celebrating the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram<\/em>, arguing that Vande Mataram<\/em> would have been a better choice for the national anthem.<\/p>\n

He later retracted the remarks following widespread criticism, saying he did not wish to prolong an \u201cunnecessary public debate”.<\/p>\n

The statement, however, sparked outrage within the TMC, which termed it an insult to Rabindranath Tagore, the Nobel laureate who composed Jana Gana Mana<\/em>, India\u2019s national anthem.<\/p>\n

The BJP, however, hit back sharply, accusing the TMC government of deliberately downplaying the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram,<\/em> a song written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, to appease a particular community.<\/p>\n

State BJP president Shamik Bhattacharya, in a statement to News18<\/em>, said, \u201cThey want to appease one community, and that is why they are not celebrating it like others. We know what happens in Bengal. We know how she supports one side. We are celebrating Vande Mataram<\/em> everywhere.”<\/p>\n

On the day when BJP offices across the state organised large-scale celebrations of Vande Mataram<\/em>, the TMC held a quieter observance, placing flowers before a photograph of Rabindranath Tagore. The party accused the BJP of \u201ctrying to create a division between Bankim Chandra and Rabindranath Tagore” for political mileage.<\/p>\n

Rejecting the BJP\u2019s allegations, the TMC said that the state government had already set up a special committee in honour of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. The ruling party also criticised the BJP for what it described as \u201cdistorting history”, after some BJP leaders allegedly claimed that Tagore wrote Jana Gana Mana<\/em> to appease the British \u2014 a claim widely discredited by historians.<\/p>\n

The TMC is set to hit the streets today over the Karnataka BJP leader\u2019s remarks on Tagore. Senior AITC leaders will pay floral tributes to Tagore\u2019s statue at Thakurbari (Jorasanko) before staging a protest against what they have termed the \u201cBangla-Birodhi BJP”. The gathering is scheduled to begin at 1 pm and will be led by Dr Shashi Panja and Vivek Gupta.<\/p>\n

At present, both parties are locked in a bitter political tussle, each invoking Bengal\u2019s cultural heritage to strengthen their narrative. While the BJP accuses the TMC of neglecting icons like Bankim Chandra, the TMC counters that the BJP\u2019s rhetoric shows a lack of respect for Bengal\u2019s literary and cultural pride.<\/p>\n

India\u2019s national song Vande Mataram<\/em> marked its 150th anniversary on 7 November. Composed in Sanskrit by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, renowned as Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, during the 1870s, the song became a timeless anthem of courage and unity, inspiring millions during India\u2019s struggle for independence.<\/p>\n

In 1950, the Constituent Assembly of India formally adopted the song, and Dr Rajendra Prasad, India\u2019s first President, accorded it the status of the national song. He noted that Vande Mataram<\/em> had played a vital role in India\u2019s fight for independence and deserved to be honoured equally with the national anthem Jana Gana Mana<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a year-long commemoration of Vande Mataram<\/em> in Delhi and also released a commemorative stamp and coin on the occasion.<\/p>\n

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\"Kamalika<\/figure>\n

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Kamalika Sengupta<\/a><\/p>\n

Kamalika Sengupta is the Editor (East) at CNN-News18 \/ News18.com, focusing on politics, defence, and women\u2019s issues. She is a seasoned multimedia journalist with over 20 years of experience reporting from East…Read More<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Kamalika Sengupta is the Editor (East) at CNN-News18 \/ News18.com, focusing on politics, defence, and women\u2019s issues. She is a seasoned multimedia journalist with over 20 years of experience reporting from East… Read More<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

First Published:<\/span><\/p>\n
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November 08, 2025, 09:15 IST<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

News<\/a> politics<\/a> \u2018Vande Mataram\u2019 Row: BJP, TMC Clash Over Bengal Icons Tagore And Bankim Chandra<\/span><\/div>\n
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Last Updated:November 08, 2025, 09:15 IST BJP accused the TMC of neglecting Bankim Chandra, while Trinamool said the saffron party showed little respect for Bengal\u2019s cultural pride Karnataka BJP leader Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri claimed that \u201cVande Mataram should have been the national anthem\u201d. A new political confrontation has erupted in West Bengal between the Trinamool…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23494,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23493\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}