Published Sep 21, 2026 | 5:51 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 21, 2026 | 5:51 PM
Vidhana Soudha.
Synopsis: The Karnataka Legislature’s three-day special session began with BJP legislators singing the full version of Vande Mataram in the Assembly after the official rendition ended with two stanzas. In the Legislative Council, the row led to chants of “Jai Shri Ram”.
The Karnataka Legislature’s three-day special session began on Monday, September 21, with BJP legislators singing the full version of Vande Mataram after the national song’s official rendition ended with the first two stanzas.
The Opposition also raised slogans against the Congress government.
Speaker GS Patil, meanwhile, proceeded with obituary references, following which Chief Minister DK Shivakumar began paying tribute to former MLA RB Shiriyannavar, who died on August 27. But the BJP members continued their protest over the government’s decision to restrict the singing of Vande Mataram to two stanzas.
BJP MLA SR Vishwanath had in the morning alleged that the Chief Minister’s decision to restrict the national song to the first two stanzas was to please Sonia Gandhi and the Congress high command.
“Today, in Vidhana Soudha, if they truncate it, all BJP MLAs will sing the full Vande Mataram song, even if they try to stop us,” he told the news agency ANI. The MLAs went on to do that.
The Vande Mataram row in the Legislative Council led to heated exchanges between the ruling and Opposition benches after the official rendition of the national song ended with two stanzas.
Defending the government’s decision, Leader of the House Yathindra Siddaramaiah said, “Our government has decided that only two stanzas of Vande Mataram should be sung at government functions. At programmes where the President, Prime Minister and Governor are present, we will follow the Central government’s direction to sing all six stanzas. But at all government programmes, we will sing two stanzas. In the same way, two stanzas have been sung here.”
Opposition members responded with chants of “Jai Shri Ram” and repeatedly shouted, “Down with the government that does not sing Vande Mataram in full.”
Amid the uproar, members also raised slogans describing the Congress government as “anti-Hindu” and accusing it of “insulting the real freedom fighters”.
Opposition members also questioned Chairman Salem Ahmed over the government’s stand, with one member asking, “Does the government have respect for the Chair at all? What will you tell the government, Chairman?”
The exchanges continued amid the sloganeering, with an Opposition member arguing that the complete Vande Mataram had been sung in the House.
Congress MLC BK Hariprasad said only two stanzas of Vande Mataram were now being sung in the House, but claimed that in 2011, when the Council had a BJP Chairman, four additional paragraphs had been sung.
As the commotion continued, Yathindra said, “Let issues concerning the people be discussed in the House.”
The confrontation in the legislature is the latest in a series of protests following the Karnataka government’s directive on September 8 that only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram be rendered at state government programmes, except those attended by the President, Vice-President, Prime Minister or Governor.
On September 15, BJP MLA S N Channabasappa walked out of the International Day of Democracy programme organised by the Shivamogga district administration after only the first two stanzas were rendered, saying he would not remain at a programme where Vande Mataram was cut short.
Four days later, Channabasappa raised the issue again at a government programme in Thirthahalli in the presence of CM DK Shivakumar. After two stanzas of Vande Mataram were rendered at an interaction on the Kasturirangan report, the MLA took the microphone and appealed directly to the Chief Minister.
“Your decision to have only two stanzas of Vande Mataram recited is having an impact on the people of the state. My only request is that the full Vande Mataram be recited,” Channabasappa said, according to reports.
His intervention triggered a brief commotion at the venue, with some members of the audience raising slogans and asking him to move away. Channabasappa subsequently spoke briefly with Shivakumar before leaving the programme.
Shivakumar later defended the government’s position, saying it would continue the Congress’s practice of rendering the first two stanzas. Referring to Channabasappa’s intervention, he said, “The people’s response is an answer to the MLA.”
Monday’s protest inside the Assembly and Council marked the first time the dispute over the government’s two-stanza order played out inside the Karnataka Legislature, with BJP legislators continuing the song even as proceedings moved ahead.
Also Read:
Explained | Vande Mataram: The history behind Congress’ two-stanza decision—is the BJP ignoring it?
(Edited by R Rajesh Kumar.)
