BENGALURU: A political row has broken out in Karnataka after BJP MP Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri claimed that India’s national anthem was composed “to welcome the British official”, a remark that drew sharp criticism from Congress minister Priyank Kharge.
Speaking at an event in Honnavar to mark 150 years of
Vande Mataram, Kageri argued that the national song should be given more prominence and placed on par with Jana Gana Mana.
“I don’t want to dig into history. There were strong calls to make Vande Mataram the national anthem, but our ancestors then decided to keep Vande Mataram as well as Jana Gana Mana, which was composed to welcome the British officer. We have accepted and are following it,” he said.
Kageri, a senior BJP leader from Uttara Kannada, said the contribution of Vande Mataram to India’s freedom struggle continued to inspire generations. “In this 150th year, Vande Mataram should reach everyone, it must reach schools, colleges, youngsters and the masses,” he added.
The comments immediately drew a strong reaction from Congress leader and Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge, who dismissed them as “utter nonsense” and an “RSS’ WhatsApp history lesson”.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Kharge wrote, “BJP MP Kageri now claims that the National Anthem is British. Utter Nonsense. Another day, another RSS WhatsApp history lesson.”
He added that Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore wrote the hymn Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata in 1911 and that its first stanza became Jana Gana Mana. “The anthem was first sung on December 27, 1911 at the Indian National Congress in Calcutta — not as a royal tribute,” Kharge said.
“Tagore also clarified in 1937 and 1939 that it hails the ‘Dispenser of India’s destiny’, and could never be George V, George VI, or any other George,” he added.
Pointing to Kageri’s remark that he did not wish to revisit history, Kharge retorted: “But, I strongly urge every BJP, RSS leader, worker and swayamsevak should revisit history by reading the editorials of RSS mouthpiece
Organizer and know that RSS has a great tradition of disrespecting the Constitution, the Tricolour and the National Anthem. This viRSS needs to be cured.”
The year 2025 marks 150 years of
Vande Mataram, composed by Bankimchandra Chatterji. According to the Press Information Bureau (PIB), the song was written during the auspicious occasion of Akshaya Navami, which fell on November 7, 1875.
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