Archive · 26 Aug 2026
DK Shivakumar Reaffirms Congress Stand on Two Vande Mataram Stanzas
D.K. Shivakumar said Karnataka will follow the Congress party’s position on Vande Mataram.
He said only the first two stanzas should be sung at government and public functions.
He said this rule will apply to future government programmes.
The Congress Working Committee had supported this position in a 1937 resolution.
The issue has become part of a political dispute.
A new bill proposes playing all the stanzas of the national song.
Congress and the BJP are disagreeing over how the song should be performed.
Shivakumar said he supports his party’s decision.
D.K. Shivakumar said Congress will continue supporting the singing of only Vande Mataram’s first two stanzas at official functions.
He said Karnataka government programmes will follow the party’s position in the future.
The Congress Working Committee reaffirmed its 1937 resolution on restricting public renditions to the first two stanzas.
The issue has sparked political controversy over how India’s national song should be performed at public events.
A proposed Vande Mataram Bill seeks the playing of all the song’s stanzas.
- Who
- D.K. Shivakumar, the Congress party, the Congress Working Committee, and the BJP are involved.
- What
- Shivakumar reaffirmed that only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram should be sung at Karnataka government and public functions.
- When
- The remarks were made on Wednesday; the articles do not provide a specific date.
- Where
- At the India Today Roundtable in Karnataka and at government functions in the state.
- Why
- Congress is following its 1937 resolution, while a proposed bill has renewed debate over whether all stanzas should be played.
Congress Position
All-Stanzas Proposal
How Vande Mataram should be performed
Congress Position
Congress says only the first two stanzas should be sung at government, public, and national functions, following its 1937 resolution.
All-Stanzas Proposal
The proposed Vande Mataram Bill calls for playing all the stanzas, a position associated in the article with the ongoing BJP-Congress dispute.
- Speaker
- D.K. Shivakumar
- Congress position
- Only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram should be sung at public and official functions.
- State position
- Karnataka government programmes will follow the Congress position.
- Historical resolution
- The Congress Working Committee reaffirmed a 1937 resolution supporting the first-two-stanzas approach.
- Proposed legislation
- A new Vande Mataram Bill calls for playing all the stanzas.
- Political context
- The BJP and Congress are contesting how the national song should be performed at public gatherings.