Rajnath Singh’s remarks and Lok Sabha confrontation during Vande Mataram debate

During the Lok Sabha debate on the 150th anniversary of the national song Vande Mataram, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh lost his temper when some Opposition MPs interrupted his address and asked him to sit down. Visibly angered, Singh shouted:

“Kaun baithanewala hai? Kaun baithayega? Kya baat kar rahe ho… baith! Yeh himmat ho gayi?”
(“Who is going to make me sit? Who will make me sit? What are you saying… sit down! How dare you?”)

Several BJP MPs also rose to back the defence minister, confronting the Opposition benches. Singh then turned to Speaker Om Birla, requesting him to intervene, after which the Speaker signaled the Opposition MPs to maintain order.

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What Rajnath Singh said on Vande Mataram

In his speech, the defence minister sharply criticised the Congress, accusing it of causing a “fragmentation” of Vande Mataram due to appeasement politics that he said began during the tenure of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

Key points from his speech:

🔹 “Restoring the glory of Vande Mataram is the need of the hour”

Singh said that Vande Mataram had not received the respect it deserved.

“Justice that should have been done to Vande Mataram did not happen. The national anthem and the national song were treated unequally.”

🔹 Congress accused of appeasement

He claimed the neglect of Vande Mataram was:

“...not an isolated incident, but the beginning of appeasement politics by the Congress.”

He argued that this was not merely an injustice to a song, but to the people of independent India.

🔹 Clarification on Anand Math and the full song

Singh said that the original Vande Mataram and Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s book Anand Math were not “anti-Islam,” but expressed opposition to:

• the Nawab of Bengal, and

• British imperialism

🔹 Call to revisit the full version of the song

He noted that while most Indians know only the first two stanzas, many parts of the original poem have faded from public memory.

“Those forgotten stanzas depict the true essence of India.”

Singh urged for an unbiased re-evaluation of the song and its history.