Photo Courtesy: India Today Group
Imphal: Manipur BJP members swarmed the Congress Bhavan in Imphal on Sunday, August 16. Over 50 workers carried national flags and posters of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. They blasted the national song over loudspeakers to hammer their point home. The party demanded accountability for an alleged slight during a New Delhi Independence Day event.
The BJP claims Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi tried to stop the full version of Vande Mataram from playing at the party headquarters on Saturday. Manipur BJP general secretary K Sarat Kumar Singh led the charge. He slammed the opposition for their conduct. "The Congress disrespected the national song. We are staging a protest against that. Speaking or moving when the national song is being sung is highly disrespectful," Singh said.
Congress leaders hit back at the accusations. They claim the party never tried to block the song. Instead, they say Gandhi was merely requesting a chair for party chief Mallikarjun Kharge because he had been standing for a long time. The tension arrives shortly after Parliament passed the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026. Approved by the Lok Sabha on July 30, the law treats Vande Mataram with the same legal standing as the national anthem, Jana Gana Mana.
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