{"id":12993,"date":"2026-08-16T12:55:53","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T12:55:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=12993"},"modified":"2026-08-16T12:55:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T12:55:53","slug":"bankim-descendant-seeks-sonia-apology-over-vande-mataram-row","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=12993","title":{"rendered":"Bankim descendant seeks Sonia apology over \u2018Vande Mataram\u2019 row"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-articlebody=\"1\"><video-embed value=\"false\"\/><\/p>\n<div class=\"ihgno clearfix  \">\n<div class=\"e9jwa\">\n<div class=\"vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"GfdvZ\">\n<section class=\"_bIDB  clearfix id-r-component leadmedia undefined undefined  E9tg9 \" style=\"top:0px\">\n<div class=\"_bIDB\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">\n<div class=\"ypVvZ\">\n<div class=\"WGttI\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-133275861,imgsize-112667,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/vande-mataram-insult-row.jpg\" alt=\"Bankim descendant seeks Sonia apology over \u2018Vande Mataram\u2019 row\" title=\"BJP MLA Sumitro Chatterjee, a descendant of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, demanded an apology from Sonia Gandhi over 'Vande Matram' row\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Ta7d_ img_cptn\"><span title=\"BJP MLA Sumitro Chatterjee, a descendant of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, demanded an apology from Sonia Gandhi over 'Vande Matram' row\">BJP MLA Sumitro Chatterjee, a descendant of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, demanded an apology from Sonia Gandhi over &#8216;Vande Matram&#8217; row<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>NEW DELHI: The row over the full rendition of Vande Mataram at the Congress headquarters on Independence Day acquired a Bankim Chandra connection on, with BJP\u2019s Naihati MLA Sumitro Chatterjee, a direct descendant of the national song\u2019s author, writing to Sonia Gandhi on Saturday and demanding an unconditional apology to the country, particularly West Bengal.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"2\"\/>The controversy erupted after a video from the Congress\u2019s August 15 function showed Sonia gesturing and speaking to party president Mallikarjun Kharge while the full version of Vande Mataram was being sung. BJP leaders alleged she was trying to have the rendition stopped after the opening stanzas. Congress rejected the charge, saying Sonia was only asking that a chair be brought for Kharge, who had been standing for some time.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"6\"\/>In his letter in Hindi, Chatterjee said the episode had left him with \u201cdeep pain, emptiness and anguish\u201d, alleging that Sonia\u2019s \u201cphysical gestures\u201d reflected \u201cunease, impatience and repeated attempts to stop\u201d the song. He said the reaction hurt him not only as a citizen but as a direct descendant of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.<\/p>\n<div class=\"LEzX4\">\n<div class=\"PmOGb\">\n<p class=\"PSf84\">Share your thoughts in the comments<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><button type=\"button\" class=\"sUTYm \">Insightful<\/button><button type=\"button\" class=\"sUTYm \">Agree<\/button><button type=\"button\" class=\"sUTYm \">Disagree<\/button><button type=\"button\" class=\"sUTYm \">Skeptical<\/button><button type=\"button\" class=\"sUTYm \">Concerning<\/button><button type=\"button\" class=\"sUTYm \">Promising<\/button><button type=\"button\" class=\"sUTYm \">Worth Reading<\/button><button type=\"button\" class=\"sUTYm \">Big Development<\/button><\/p>\n<p><textarea class=\"T9MbS\" rows=\"1\" placeholder=\"Add your Thoughts...\"\/><button type=\"button\" class=\"ZW6JD \" disabled=\"\">Post Comment<\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"swnca\">Be respectful \u00b7 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.indiatimes.com\/termsandcondition\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" class=\"gkv0P\">TOI community guidelines<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"9\"\/>Invoking the song\u2019s place in the freedom movement, Chatterjee referred to Sri Aurobindo, Khudiram Bose, Bipin Chandra Pal and Bal Gangadhar Tilak, and said generations of freedom fighters had rallied around Vande Mataram.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"12\"\/>\u201cVande Mataram is not the ancestral property of any political party. It is the collective memory of the nation, Bankim Chandra\u2019s eternal legacy and a sacred national symbol sanctified by the blood and sacrifice of lakhs of martyrs,\u201d he wrote.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"14\"\/>Chatterjee also pointed to the full six-stanza rendition in Lok Sabha on August 13, attended by leaders from both government and Opposition, and asked why there should be \u201chesitation and discomfort\u201d over the same song at the Congress headquarters. He sought an \u201cunconditional and public apology\u201d from Sonia.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/india\/bankim-descendant-seeks-sonia-apology-over-vande-mataram-row-\/articleshow\/133275818.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BJP MLA Sumitro Chatterjee, a descendant of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, demanded an apology from Sonia Gandhi over &#8216;Vande Matram&#8217; row NEW DELHI: The row over the full rendition of Vande Mataram at the Congress headquarters on Independence Day acquired a Bankim Chandra connection on, with BJP\u2019s Naihati MLA Sumitro Chatterjee, a direct descendant of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12994,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-31"],"magazineBlocksPostFeaturedMedia":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/vande-mataram-insult-row.jpg","medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/vande-mataram-insult-row.jpg","medium_large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/vande-mataram-insult-row.jpg","large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/vande-mataram-insult-row.jpg","1536x1536":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/vande-mataram-insult-row.jpg","2048x2048":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/vande-mataram-insult-row.jpg","blogsy-small":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/vande-mataram-insult-row.jpg","blogsy-small-tall":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/vande-mataram-insult-row.jpg","blogsy-small-square":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/vande-mataram-insult-row.jpg","blogsy-small-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/vande-mataram-insult-row.jpg","blogsy-medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/vande-mataram-insult-row.jpg","blogsy-medium-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/vande-mataram-insult-row.jpg","blogsy-large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/vande-mataram-insult-row.jpg","blogsy-wide":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/vande-mataram-insult-row.jpg"},"magazineBlocksPostAuthor":{"name":"admin","avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"magazineBlocksPostCommentsNumber":"0","magazineBlocksPostExcerpt":"BJP MLA Sumitro Chatterjee, a descendant of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, demanded an apology from Sonia Gandhi over &#8216;Vande Matram&#8217; row NEW DELHI: The row over the full rendition of Vande Mataram at the Congress headquarters on Independence Day acquired a Bankim Chandra connection on, with BJP\u2019s Naihati MLA Sumitro Chatterjee, a direct descendant of the [&hellip;]","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36"],"magazineBlocksPostViewCount":3,"magazineBlocksPostReadTime":2,"magazine_blocks_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/vande-mataram-insult-row.jpg",400,225,false],"medium":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/vande-mataram-insult-row.jpg",300,169,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/vande-mataram-insult-row.jpg",150,84,false]},"magazine_blocks_author":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/author\/admin"},"magazine_blocks_comment":0,"magazine_blocks_author_image":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g","magazine_blocks_category":"<a href=\"#\" class=\"category-link category-link-31\">\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36<\/a>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12993"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12993\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}