Srinagar: Tensions appear to be growing within Jammu and Kashmir’s ruling alliance, with the National Conference pushing back against ally Congress on Wednesday over the full rendition of Vande Mataram at an official state event.
The National Conference (NC) said it was a “statutory obligation” to play the full national song at a state event and that no one would be forced to sing.
The controversy erupted after the unabridged version of the national song was played at the ongoing International Film Festival of Jammu and Kashmir (IFFJK) in the presence of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and NC president Farooq Abdullah on Monday.
The Congress, which provides outside support to the NC-led government in the Union territory and shares a broader national alignment under the opposition INDIA bloc, publicly expressed strong disapproval over the incident. The Congress has six MLAs in the 90-member Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.
Responding to the criticism, NC chief spokesperson Tanveer Sadiq told reporters that government protocol must be separated from party ideology.
“The National Conference has a clear stance. When Parliament has adopted it, playing Vande Mataram becomes a statutory obligation and that is what the government did,” Sadiq said.
Chief ministers in non-BJP states like Telangana and Karnataka have also played the complete version of Vande Mataram at official functions, he said.
“As far as the party’s stand is concerned, anyone who wants to sing Vande Mataram can do so and no one will be forced,” he added.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah later shared Sadiq’s statements on X.
On Tuesday, Congress general secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal posted a video of the IFFJK on X, asserting that the unabridged version of Vande Mataram “sits uneasily with the syncretic and pluralist ethos that our freedom fighters envisioned and nurtured for India”.
He urged alliance partners to honour the Congress’ historical 1937 working committee resolution, which adopted a truncated version of the song to respect India’s religious diversity and conscience.
Jammu and Kashmir Congress chief Tariq Hamid Karra on Wednesday expressed concern over the NC’s move, stating that national symbols must reflect India’s constitutional temperament.
“The adopted version represented a conscious balance, preserving historic significance while remaining sensitive to India’s plural ethos,” Karra wrote on X.
“National symbols acquire greater dignity when they accommodate India’s diversity, not when that diversity is asked to accommodate them,” he said.
NC spokesperson Sadiq tagged Karra in a post on X in which he shared videos of Independence Day functions in Congress-ruled Karnataka and Telangana where the full version of Vande Mataram was played.
“Jenab Tariq Karra saheb, please take a look at your Congress CMs and share your valuable thoughts with everyone. Thank you!” Sadiq said.
In January 2026, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs issued comprehensive guidelines establishing a strict protocol for the singing of the national song. The new rules dictate that all six stanzas of the national song should be played or sung at official events.
Strongly opposing the mandate, the Congress had maintained that only the first two stanzas would be sung at party gatherings.
